00:00:00.000 - 00:00:08.900

>> Life is over. >> Well, it's time we go back to it. >> Open range cattle ranch. >> Oh, that's interesting.

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>> I know, but you know, they don't do that so much anymore. >> Right. And that's why your story is going to be interesting to a child who doesn't know anything about that, you know? So we'll just take you kind of through and you can tell me

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if you think of another story you want to tell. That would be great. >> Can't use your arms. >> I don't know, but you might want to--

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>> Forty-three-- >> Forty-six? >> No. >> What are you talking about?

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>> Forty-three-six. >> Forty-three-six. >> Yeah. >> I was trying to remember your class numbers.

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>> Yeah. Let's end tag this. Go ahead and just tell her what you wanted to say and-- >> Okay. >> Are you going to start?

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>> Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. Just tell me your full name and when and where you were born. Any question you don't want to answer, just say that.

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I don't want to answer that. So your full name and when and where you were born. Well, I was Evelyn Hicks, and then I married Stuart, and then I married Jackson. So my name now is Jackson.

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And when and where were you born, Evelyn? I was born February 17, 1917, at our home ranch out of Globe, twelve miles out of Globe, a place they called Wheatfields. Globe, Arizona?

00:01:21.560 - 00:01:26.400

Uh-huh. Okay. Tell me about your mom and dad. Well, they were pioneers.

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My father came as a young man from Texas, and my mother did, too. I guess his family moved into Texas from, I think, Tennessee, and they were always farmers or cattle people mostly. They were cattle people.

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My grandfather, Hicks, lived in Waco, Texas. They moved from Tennessee to Waco, and he had an orchard or something in Waco. He lived there several years, I do not know just how long. And then they moved to Casagrande, Arizona.

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They brought their cattle and everything on the train, and he had quite a large family by then. There were about five of the kids. The last one was born in Casa Grande, a girl.

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They lived in Casa Grande, I don't know, maybe a year, not long. Then they found our homestead in Globe. It was out of Globe towards Roosevelt Lake. My grandfather bought it.

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He bought it from a man that had homesteaded it. He bought it for, I think, $500 or something. It was cheap then. That was in, I don't even remember what year.

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My father was born in 1879, and he was just a boy, so it must have been before 1900. Long ago. And they lived there, and that's where I was born. Kelly: Okay.

00:03:06.260 - 00:03:19.460

And your other grandparents, where did they live? Beall: Well, they came from Texas, and they settled in New Mexico. They came to Hatch, New Mexico. They lived around New Mexico in different places.

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My grandfather, he was in the hauling business. He hauled logs and things from the mountains. He had a team of horses and big wagons and things, and he hauled stuff. He was a person that liked to live out in the hills.

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He said when he lived close enough that he could hear the neighbor's dogs, it was too close, he'd move. [Laughter] Kelly: Evelyn, did they ever tell you how they came out to Arizona?

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Was it in a wagon train? Were there other families? Bell: Well, my mother came out in a wagon train. There was three families.

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The Winklers, her name was Winkler, and a family named Bell. She told me the other family name, I don't remember it, but they came out in a wagon train. But my father, I don't think, I think by the time he came on the train, they were in

00:04:25.440 - 00:04:43.040

Waco and maybe it was a little, I don't know which one got here first. When he came, they moved in on the train. They came in on a wagon train, though, to Texas, but they didn't say much. My father was smaller then, and he didn't say much about that.

00:04:45.540 - 00:05:05.120

Mommy used to say, when she was just a baby, they'd come and they'd travel across the—when they'd make a long trek, they'd stop for noon to lunch, and they'd put her under the wagon in the shade to sleep. She was just a baby, and I remember her telling that.

00:05:06.480 - 00:05:23.260

And then when they came into New Mexico, I remember—I do not know, they lived in various places in New Mexico, but the last place that I remember her talking about was a place called Cliff. And I had an aunt who lived in Cliff, New Mexico, for a long time.

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And we used to go there and visit them when I was a kid. Then— Kelly: Did you have any siblings? Yes, I had two sisters and a brother.

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What's the first thing you remember about where you lived? That was on the ranch? Yes, on the ranch. Oh, I don't remember.

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I guess my grandmother, my grandmother Hicks, she lived with us, or we lived with her, I don't know which. But anyway, we lived together. She was a widow by then, and my dad had built this kind of a large house, and we lived there.

00:06:04.120 - 00:06:16.920

We raised chickens, or she did. My grandmother raised chickens and turkeys. I used to help her with the chickens and turkeys. I was more of a bother than a help, but she took my mother, and I remember that.

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Kelly: And your dad on the ranch, what did he have? He had cattle. I do not know how many he had, but he had Hereford cattle, and he was a cattleman all his life.

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He kept getting more cattle, and he had quite a lot. He owned—actually, it was what they called "grazing," open grazing. He had to pay grazing fees, and that's the way he did his. We had a ranch there for a long time.

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Do you recall how large, how many acres he had, or how many cattle he ran? Well, actually, he didn't have any acreage, but he had quite a few head of cattle. It was what they called his allotment, and it was a pretty good-sized allotment. I don't know just how, I couldn't tell you.

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I just know it went about twelve miles over to the river and then it was back towards Globe two or three miles. So I don't really know just how big it was. Kelly: Right.

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And the cattle, did he raise them for the beef? Reid: Yes, it was open range cattle. And he raised them and every spring they'd have roundup and he'd get the, well, they called them yearlings.

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They would be the year old. And then he'd get the steers usually, and well, the heifers too, and the buyers would come in and then they'd bid on them, and he'd sell them that way. And he did that for years, all the time.

00:08:03.520 - 00:08:18.380

Every year we had our roundup. We had a date when May was the time that we had to round up and get our stuff off and get or sell. And then we did a small roundup in the fall, but we didn't sell anything.

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We only sold it in the spring. Kelly: How far out from town were you? Belcher: About twelve miles. Kelly: Okay.

00:08:24.960 - 00:08:40.680

Belcher: Out of Globe. Kelly: Do you recall when you first went to school? Belcher: Well, I went to school at a little country school. It was down below us about a mile, just a little one-room school.

00:08:41.640 - 00:09:01.100

When we had a teacher, she came out from Globe, or Miami, I guess, she came from Miami, this one. We had several different teachers, but the one I remember the best was named Mrs. Bell. She used to drive down, and she'd pick several of us up on the way and go on down to a little

00:09:01.200 - 00:09:21.380

school. There were kids come from the other side of the school. They all come in for two or three miles around to the school. They had all classes, all grades.

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They had all grades. Kelly: And were you in one room? All grades? Davidson: Yeah.

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There was maybe three or four of each one, or maybe just one. I think in my class there was only two of us, so there wasn't very many. We sat on benches and then we had desks and things. Do you remember as a small child some of the games you played?

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We used to run out in the playground. We had swings and teeter-totters and stuff like that. Some of the bigger kids played baseball, but usually us girls would—I can't remember, maybe hopscotch—we just fiddled around and played.

00:10:04.120 - 00:10:21.300

run in and out, dug in the dirt. Evelyn, as a child growing up, tell me what a Christmas was like in your home. Oh, well, we always had a Christmas tree. My mother used to go to church, my dad didn't, but my mother would go every time she would

00:10:21.380 - 00:10:40.040

get and sometimes she would have little church meetings in her house from the neighbors around. come and someone would have little meetings. And she used to have old quilting bees, and they would have different socials at my mother's place.

00:10:40.520 - 00:10:53.520

I was just running around, getting in the way mostly, or staying out of the way. And at Christmas would you? Well, at Christmas we just, we had a tree, and then gifts and all, and we just didn't have usually a big dinner.

00:10:54.720 - 00:11:09.740

We always raised our own turkeys and stuff like that. Between my grandmother and my mother, they worked on that. And then we always had beef. My dad always butchered and we had a lot of beef.

00:11:10.140 - 00:11:28.180

But he did not raise any—we had a very little few vegetables. He did not raise a farm, he raised cattle. And we had a neighbor, though, that had a farm, a truck farm. He took his stuff to Globe in Miami.

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And we used to get vegetables from Mr. Parr. He lived across the creek. So that is about— And then when you finished elementary, did that go through sixth grade or fifth grade?

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Well, sixth, and then we took the bus and went to Globe. And then we took junior high, which was seventh and eighth grade, and then from high school on the whole time I went to Globe and rode the bus. By then the buses were getting better.

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The first one was not very up to much. The man that drove it, he lived down just below us on the creek. Actually the creek run north. I keep saying down because it was down the creek, but it was north.

00:12:16.000 - 00:12:34.640

But they lived down the creek from us about a mile, and he drove the bus back and forth. So the first one I rode was that bus. They closed our little school. We did not have enough students, and they gave them so much money, a student, and they

00:12:34.780 - 00:12:52.900

did not have any more students. And so they got this bus and then Mr. Olson drove the bus back and forth. And there was quite a group of kids, I guess maybe twelve, I do not really know, but they took them all into Globe.

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And by then I was in the sixth grade by then. Kelly: Okay. In junior high, do you recall any teachers that influenced you? I knew one I didn't like.

00:13:08.200 - 00:13:24.440

Okay, tell us about her. Her name was Miss Beeler, and she was a home ec teacher. She tried to teach me to sew, which was an impossibility, and to cook, too. I couldn't do either one, but I didn't care for her very well.

00:13:24.860 - 00:13:37.920

But the rest of them, I liked all the rest of them. I got along with them fine. The rest of the high school teachers, I had a math teacher that I didn't care for much when I got in high school, school, but it wasn't her fault, it was mine. I didn't like math.

00:13:38.460 - 00:13:52.220

I really didn't like school, to be honest with you. I wanted to be out riding with my dad, but girls couldn't do that. They had to go to school and be ladies. Do you recall your favorite subject, if there was such a thing?

00:13:53.620 - 00:14:07.140

Yes, I liked English because I got to read books, and I loved to read. I did not care for all the grammar part of it, but I did like when you got to read books. That was great. I liked that.

00:14:08.300 - 00:14:22.320

I liked English, and I liked history and geography. I liked that. I just did not like math very well. In high school, did you enter anything other than academics?

00:14:22.700 - 00:14:48.660

No, I sang in the Glee Club after school. The way our bus was, we were the last ones to get out and we had quite a long trip because we had to go farther than anybody else. We went twelve miles and it was a long, it took us an hour because we had to stop long

00:14:48.740 - 00:15:07.520

and let people on and off. So we had a long trip and it was just a long trip. It took us a while to do it. Do you recall when you were growing up in high school, junior high, who were your role

00:15:07.640 - 00:15:15.360

models? Oh, Lord, I do not have any idea. I do not know that I had any. Your dad, perhaps?

00:15:15.860 - 00:15:25.640

Oh, yeah. I thought my dad was great. Were you more closer to your dad as you were growing up, do you think? Well, possibly.

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I do not know whether growing up, I guess I was. Did you ever get to participate in any of the roundups? Oh, yeah. I used to ride.

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We had cowboys. There was always anywhere from six to eight extra cowboys. They lived in the bunkhouse and my mother cooked for them. We just had them usually in the spring when we had the roundup to get the cattle ready.

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They came from different places all over. They would be usually different every year. Sometimes they would be the same ones come back. Occasionally if I was not going to school, they would not let me ditch school for anything,

00:16:14.840 - 00:16:34.720

but sometimes on Saturdays if I could I'd ride with him. But they were gone a long time. As it got, as I got older and it was not so hard anymore, they had to have so many cowboys because the range was a long ways over and they, but as it got better, as it got, as

00:16:34.800 - 00:17:04.400

we grew up, it got to where we had trucks and at first we didn't have any trucks, They packed everything in and out on mules, and then over to the line camp where they had to camp for about a month to get the cattle. And then after my dad got to work, he built some roads in over this long one place, well

00:17:04.400 - 00:17:20.080

all places he built roads. it was up a wash, it was not too hard to build. Then he had trucks, and then he would haul stuff in and out. And he got to where he could haul his horses in and then work from there, and then haul

00:17:20.120 - 00:17:29.380

his horses back. So the days were not as long. I could ride with him then when the days were not, because before it would be too long if they drove from the house.

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Maybe he would get up in the morning and leave well before six o'clock, get up at four, and then leave really early, and then they would not get in until maybe two or three o'clock. They would have a long, long day.

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And that was just too much for me. And then they would come in and do whatever they had to do around the barns and the quails. They would eat dinner before. The first thing they did was eat because they were starving stiff, being out that long.

00:18:02.100 - 00:18:14.700

And then they would come in and maybe they would rest a little while, an hour or something, And then they'd do chores or whatever they had to do for the evening. They never went out in, usually in the aft late, unless there was something right at the house.

00:18:14.740 - 00:18:29.000

Maybe they branded or something like that, right close to the house. If they had to brand calves, sometimes they did that after. And then they would have an early, just kind of a pick-up supper. That was our life for years.

00:18:29.750 - 00:18:45.940

Do you recall, Evelyn, when you first had electricity? Yeah. We lived right—there was a big mining company up in the Miami Copper and the old—all those copper companies in Globe, and we were down the creek from that.

00:18:46.220 - 00:19:07.300

It was north of us, but it was down. And they run a big—there was a big power line come from the Roosevelt Dam right up through that canyon right up towards the mines. And they would never let us get onto it.

00:19:08.060 - 00:19:27.360

My dad wanted to get power from that for years, but they would not let it. It was just too big a line. Finally they ran a line down. They pumped water from down below our house up to Miami, because they needed the water

00:19:27.260 - 00:19:52.300

in their leaching process, and they run a line down there, an electric line to run the pumps. So when they did that, well, they let my dad, let us, let some of the people on the ranch that had farms and ranches, they let them tap on to the electricity.

00:19:52.980 - 00:20:11.000

And we had that, but it was DC, it was direct current instead of AC/DC. So we had to have certain kind of bulbs and certain things because we could not use everything everybody else did. And then it was that way a long time.

00:20:11.060 - 00:20:26.440

Then I think, did not the government make a thing about rural electricity? And then when that came, well, we got better electricity, or then we got on to the regular AC/DC. It was better, we could just get pumps and everything.

00:20:27.060 - 00:20:37.860

Before that, we had a refrigerator that was a gas refrigerator and stuff like that. We just did— Kelly: Like propane? Beckett: Yeah, I guess, yes.

00:20:39.100 - 00:20:50.760

It was a gas-burning one. They have them now, I think, some. People don't have—they're wonderful if you don't have electricity, because they They freeze ice just like, and at the summertime, it's pretty hot.

00:20:51.240 - 00:20:57.960

- Okay. Where were you in school when you got electricity? Were you already in high school? - Oh, I have no idea.

00:20:58.370 - 00:21:06.800

- Okay. When you were in high school, what were your dreams? What did you want to do? - Grow up.

00:21:09.020 - 00:21:16.500

- Is that still your dream? - No. I just wanted to grow up. I thought I was going to be a doctor.

00:21:16.520 - 00:21:31.980

I was never going to grow up. In your high school, did you have a high school prom or banquet or anything? Oh yeah, we had all that stuff, but I really was not into it much. Now I regret now that I - well, my problem was the bus.

00:21:33.260 - 00:21:53.080

We had to catch that bus, because we were twelve miles out and if we did not get the bus, we had not time to get home, because that was the only thing out. I just knew I'd have to spend the night on the street corner. Of course, I wouldn't have, but then when you're a kid you don't think about that.

00:21:53.760 - 00:22:06.680

So we always had to catch the bus and I didn't have enough time to do anything. >> Right. I've just got to ask you, with those cowboys coming every spring, did you find a favorite cowboy?

00:22:06.820 - 00:22:20.280

>> Oh, yeah, I loved them all. They were really some very nice ones. A lot of them had come from ranches around. Anyway, they were all nice.

00:22:21.260 - 00:22:36.280

We had a couple of brothers, one of them had seizures and the other one took care of him. I forget them. They were nice fellows. We had some pretty good fellows.

00:22:36.440 - 00:22:50.460

They were not any of them ornery to get along with. They just were pretty good for that group being all thrown together and never having met each other before. They worked out real well.

00:22:51.020 - 00:23:08.120

They all loved my mother because she cooked for them. She did not have to, but she would wash their clothes and do all kinds of things like that. She just kind of adopted them. We just had some good, we had a good crew.

00:23:08.540 - 00:23:17.240

Every year we had a real good crew. Dianne: What was your graduation from high school like? Did you have caps and gowns? Ruth: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

00:23:17.240 - 00:23:36.560

We were right uptown by then. Yeah, we had caps and gowns. Our colors were black and orange, and we rooted and hollered for the team. We were just a normal school.

00:23:37.600 - 00:23:53.360

What kind of student were you? Oh, Lord. Well, I got through. I did finish. I did graduate. So that was plus for me for heaven's sakes.

00:23:53.480 - 00:24:04.760

I was not a scholar. I really didn't like school. When you graduated, what were your plans? Or what did you do after you graduated? Well, you know, I really did not have any.

00:24:04.810 - 00:24:17.380

I had some neighbors that these girls could not wait to get through so they could go on to, well, they come to Tempe. I did not want to do that. I just wanted to do anything, not any more school.

00:24:17.620 - 00:24:29.780

I had had it with school. So I really did not know what I wanted to do. Of course, I took care of that because I got married. I got married in, I guess, August.

00:24:30.500 - 00:24:47.440

I was September, and I graduated in May or June, I do not know which it was. Was this someone your family approved of? Oh, yeah. We went to church, we were going into church, and my mother and Chet's mother, they knew

00:24:47.440 - 00:25:04.180

each other in church, and I knew him. I had been going into the little kid meetings in the evenings, the Sunday afternoons, and I knew him and we had gone together quite a little while. Then we got married.

00:25:05.060 - 00:25:12.920

I did not know what else to do and I did not want to go on to school, so I got married. Really. Where did you live? Did you live in Globe?

00:25:12.920 - 00:25:22.600

Well, at first we lived in Globe. My husband worked for the Shell Oil Company. He drove a truck and delivered gasoline to different stations around. We lived there.

00:25:23.140 - 00:25:44.360

But we lived in Globe, oh, I don't remember, quite a few years. I don't remember what year that was, but what year. We got married in—when did we get married? I guess I can't remember.

00:25:48.760 - 00:26:16.620

Well, it'll come to me. Anyway, I was right out of high school, and I graduated from high school in '45. I graduated from high school in '35, and we got married in '35. So then, when the war started, which was what, '41?

00:26:17.700 - 00:26:28.520

Where were you when Pearl Harbor was— Lane: Well, I was in Globe at Pearl Harbor. I was on the ranch. I do not know what I was doing that day.

00:26:28.580 - 00:26:40.560

I never could remember. Everybody else said they could remember, but I never did. I was just fooling around doing whatever I did, nothing I did. But anyway, after that—

00:26:42.400 - 00:26:52.680

Kelly: How did that affect you? Lane: Oh, I learned to fly. While I was married, the CPT came to Global, Civil Pilot Training Program, and I wanted to do that.

00:26:54.300 - 00:26:59.480

And— Kelly: Do you know why you wanted to do that? Did you know any other girls who were doing it? Reifeltt: No, I just wanted to.

00:26:59.480 - 00:27:07.760

It looked like fun. And it was just something I thought, "Gee, that looked like fun. I'd like to do that." So it came to town.

00:27:07.900 - 00:27:23.560

So I, there was another girl in town, and Eva, that we both talked about it, and she wanted to do it too. So we both got enrolled. Well, I couldn't go in the first class.

00:27:24.150 - 00:27:39.860

I was married, and my husband didn't especially like me doing this, but Eva went in and she got the first class, because they would take five or six boys and one girl out of the class. I don't remember just how many it's been so long. But she got in the first class.

00:27:40.280 - 00:27:50.700

So I had to wait until the second class to get in the CPT because they only took one girl. And she graduated and got through. And so then I started.

00:27:51.940 - 00:28:03.840

And the only way I did it, my husband didn't want me to do this, and I was bound to be determined. Anyway, I said, "Well, you have to take ground school and you have to pass the physical first."

00:28:03.840 - 00:28:17.220

I don't think I'll pass the physical." So of course I went past the physical. Then I said, "Well, you've got to pass grand school. It's not going to hurt you to do grand school, and I probably won't pass that either."

00:28:17.590 - 00:28:31.680

I did a negative thing the whole way through, and of course I went right on through. Anyway, then of course I said, "Well, gee, it's all free. I can't lose. I can't lose for winning because I get this flying free."

00:28:33.360 - 00:28:46.780

Of course, he grudgingly agreed. I went to going down to Qatar to learn to fly, and I just loved it. Where was Qatar? Well, it was eight miles out of Globe, towards the Indian Reservation.

00:28:47.120 - 00:28:56.800

It was east, I guess you'd say. Yeah, east, north of east. So you drove down? Yeah, I either drove down or caught a ride with one of the boys that was going out.

00:28:56.880 - 00:29:12.540

There was about six or eight more fellows. Can you recall your solo when you first started flying? Yeah, I was scared to death. We went up and shot some landings, and then we come in and landed, and I thought, "Well,

00:29:12.580 - 00:29:20.220

it was over." Rudy got out of the plane. I said, "Where are you going?" He said, "You're going up, you're going up."

00:29:20.220 - 00:29:36.660

So I was really scared, and then I remember getting in the--when I gave it the gas to to take off, it lifted real quick without his weight in there. And I was petrified. I thought, "Whoa, what's happened to this plane?"

00:29:36.660 - 00:29:50.300

Because before, the weight, it just got up slowly. But boy, when he was out there and bounced up, I thought, "Wow, I've done something wrong." But I went around and shot a landing, and then he waved me on,

00:29:50.400 - 00:30:01.520

so I did two or three, I can't remember anyway. That was it. They come in and I was shaking like a–I was just shaking because I was scared. Kelly: What kind of airplane was it?

00:30:01.550 - 00:30:06.220

Beall: Oh, a Cub. [Laughter] Kelly: Did your mom and dad know you were doing this? Beall: Oh, no.

00:30:07.340 - 00:30:16.000

No, they wouldn't have approved. But of course they found it out, and it was all right after I'd already done it. Yeah. It was fine.

00:30:16.000 - 00:30:30.640

Kelly: So you kept flying? Beall: They really didn't care much what we did, just so we stayed out of trouble. So anyway, that worked out, and then I kept working. That was the hard part, because it cost money, and we just were working people.

00:30:31.540 - 00:30:49.680

I did not work, and Chet worked, and we only made so much money. But every chance I got, I would go down and get an hour of flying time. And of course, I cannot remember how much time we got in CPT, but whatever it was, we still owed and got some acrobatics and stuff.

00:30:51.240 - 00:31:09.420

So anyway, then the war started, and I heard about the WASP, and I heard about Ms. Cochran. Do you recall how you heard? I don't know, maybe on the radio. I don't know if it was on the radio or a paper.

00:31:09.580 - 00:31:23.560

I really don't know. I can't remember, but I heard about it, and so I thought, "Well, I want to do that." And by then, Eva, my friend Eva that had gotten the class beheading me, she had gone to Phoenix one time in her car and had a wreck and got killed.

00:31:24.240 - 00:31:35.000

So I did not have any friend. I was just all by myself. They only did, I think, maybe two or three of the CPT classes there, and I do not think there was any other woman that went in.

00:31:36.700 - 00:31:59.840

Only ones who were crazy were even me. But anyway, there was no one that wanted to—I was thinking about—I had no friend to go. I wanted to do this, and my sister at that time had gone to work in Phoenix. So I heard that Miss Cochran was coming to town.

00:32:00.600 - 00:32:11.160

She was coming into Phoenix, and I got to go down and see her. And she was interviewing for the program. Don't you remember that? You don't remember that?

00:32:11.390 - 00:32:19.720

I wasn't in Arizona. Oh, you weren't in CPÖ No, I wasn't in CPT either. Well, this wasn't in CPT, this wasn't for CPT, it was just for women flyers at that

00:32:19.800 - 00:32:24.220

time. She was looking for women flyers. And, of course, I didn't have enough hours. I wasn't old enough.

00:32:24.460 - 00:32:43.640

Oh, you weren't. Oh, well, I was. But anyway, I went down with Shirley, my sister, and I think I stayed with her one night. Anyway, I got to visit and we were interviewed with her, and there was a whole bunch of women

00:32:44.400 - 00:33:01.920

from Phoenix being interviewed that night. Tell me about that interview. It was at the Westward Hole. Well, we all just sat around and she was just talking about the program and what she wanted

00:33:02.560 - 00:33:16.520

to do and to take us and teach us to fly. Of course, we were all ready, but anyway, I had to tell her how much time we had. Of course, I did not have any time. I had maybe forty hours, whatever.

00:33:20.140 - 00:33:32.380

I knew I did not have enough time, but she said, "Well, just wait. They are dropping their requirements every day." She said, "You just wait and you will hear from me." She had my name and my flying time.

00:33:35.880 - 00:33:52.000

She said, "You're just going back home and wait." She had my address. So it wasn't long, it wasn't even a month, I don't believe, before I heard from her. She said they dropped the requirements to whatever I had.

00:33:52.040 - 00:34:08.080

I can't even remember, maybe fifty hours. All I had to do was pass a physical and to come on down to Texas. So then I had an argument with my husband. But then the war had started, right in there.

00:34:08.180 - 00:34:25.980

I cannot remember the time exactly, but he was drafted, I guess. He got in the engineers. So anyway, I went. I just said, "I have to go."

00:34:26.020 - 00:34:42.300

When the time came, I had to wait quite a while before I could go. We did not just get the notice. I got the notice pretty quick, but I did not report until quite a little while later. Then I had to go to Sweetwater, and I caught a bus.

00:34:42.400 - 00:34:47.020

I went on the bus. Kelly: Okay. But you did not know any of the other girls who were going? Reifeldt: Oh, no.

00:34:48.700 - 00:35:04.400

As I was on this bus, there was a girl, her name was Jane Wilson. She was in Texas visiting her boyfriend who was in the Army. She got on the bus in Texas, and somehow I looked at her and I thought to myself, "I I bet she's going to Sweetwater."

00:35:04.400 - 00:35:20.640

And so we got to be friends, and sure enough, she went to Sweetwater. She got off, and I thought, "Well, I was right," and then I got off right behind her. So then we shared a bay, because I said both. And she'd come from Michigan, someplace in Michigan.

00:35:21.220 - 00:35:31.020

Detroit. She'd come from Detroit. EC: Did your mom and dad now know what you were doing? Oh, yeah, but they didn't approve of me going off and leaving my house.

00:35:32.300 - 00:35:43.320

I had to carry less. I was going to fly. So, when you got to Sweetwater, what were your first reactions when you saw all those airplanes?

00:35:44.040 - 00:36:04.400

Well, it wasn't the airplanes so much, it was the barracks. I had never lived with girls. I never lived with anybody but my husband, and to live with six girls in one room, one bathroom, it was a little, it took me a little while to get used to it.

00:36:04.480 - 00:36:18.020

See, I had never been in college, so I didn't, I know girls did that in college, but I never would have lived with girls or any, a lot of group, even, but anyway, it was. How long did it take you to adjust? Oh, it didn't take me long.

00:36:18.140 - 00:36:27.040

I got just as crazy as they were. Right. But at first it was a little odd. - Yeah, let me ask you about that physical.

00:36:27.380 - 00:36:31.300

Where did you go to take that? You recall? - Do you know? I don't remember.

00:36:31.980 - 00:36:37.060

- Okay, so it must have-- - A doctor there in Globe, I think. - Okay. - I don't, I really just don't remember.

00:36:37.700 - 00:36:42.580

- Was it to a military base? Okay. - I don't believe so. Now I might have, but I don't think so.

00:36:42.980 - 00:36:51.200

- Okay. Okay, once you started into training, what were your bay mates like? Well, they were all pretty good.

00:36:53.240 - 00:37:09.860

One was a beauty operator, her name was Jeannie Moore. She had a bad time. Then there was Marian Tibbetts, who was a tall, skinny, homemade-type girl, but she's a real good flyer.

00:37:10.600 - 00:37:26.640

And then there was Hazel Pierce, whose relative had something to do with Sweetwater, her brother. They owned part of it or something. I do not remember. Her name was not Pierce, it was something McLaughlin or whatever their name was.

00:37:26.860 - 00:37:44.700

It was on our thing, but she had been married and her husband had gotten killed. Then there was one named Mackie Note, and she was kind of a glamour gal. She had learned to fly. She had a boyfriend in California, and she had come from California, and she had more

00:37:44.740 - 00:37:52.620

time than any of us. Then there was Janie Wilson and me. I don't know where Janie learned to fly. I think Florida, but I'm not sure.

00:37:53.580 - 00:38:05.720

Did you feel intimidated by some of the others who had more hours, perhaps? Do you recall? Well, I don't remember that I did. Just tell me about the training.

00:38:07.020 - 00:38:17.200

Well, I don't remember much about it. Do you recall your solo? What were you flying? PT-17, the Fairchild.

00:38:17.380 - 00:38:27.320

Nineteen. Nineteen. PT-19, Fairchild. The 17 is a yellow peril, isn't it? Yeah, it was the 19. I loved those little Fairchild, they were great.

00:38:28.640 - 00:38:48.220

And my instructor's name was Joe Giltz, had a little mustache. But he was a nice guy, I liked Joe. And he was a pretty good instructor. Anyway, he got me through the program. Anything unusual happen when you were in primary training?

00:38:49.420 - 00:39:03.380

No, not that I know of. I think I nearly washed out. I had come in one time and I think I had two pink slips. And then we went up the third time and anyway, I remember I creased in a landing somehow.

00:39:03.640 - 00:39:13.860

Oh, God, I had his arm around me. And I made a good landing, so it was all okay. And I never had any more trouble. And that was with an Army officer, right?

00:39:14.680 - 00:39:32.440

No, it was with Joe. He was doing this before we went down. He was getting me ready for the one, I guess, is what it was. They would judge you, and if you didn't do so good, then they would get rid of you,

00:39:32.520 - 00:39:43.780

the instructor. Anyway, that was what I thought. He had given me two pink slips, I guess, and I was on my way for a third one. So he passed me over because I went, "All right."

00:39:43.880 - 00:40:04.400

The class below, next to us, there was one of them, they had a terrific rate of washout. Mine was not too bad, but I remember one they talked about how many other girls washed out, and they thought maybe something had gone with some of the guys, he got it in for them or something.

00:40:04.600 - 00:40:17.880

We did not really know, because we did not really think that it should be quite that high. While you were in training, did you have time off? Yeah, we had one day a week, I believe.

00:40:19.240 - 00:40:26.960

Maybe weekends. Yeah, we had weekends, I guess. I know we didn't go to town very much. We went in the cattle truck.

00:40:27.400 - 00:40:38.660

Right. She's going to change takes. I love hearing you talk about the ranch, because I don't know anything. I live in Waco.

00:40:39.600 - 00:40:46.540

You do? Yeah. Oh, well my dad owned some property there. Maybe he planned some of his trainings.

00:40:46.540 - 00:40:55.500

I don't know, but anyway, they had some kind of scandal. He left. Oh, okay. Well, I'm not a native Texan.

00:40:56.520 - 00:40:59.380

I haven't lived in Waco. Well, he wasn't a native. They came from Tennessee. Oh, really?

00:40:59.640 - 00:41:04.220

They had been a family. They'd lived in there in Tennessee for years. Right. Okay.

00:41:05.020 - 00:41:15.540

We're back. We're in training. Do you recall where did you eat and how was the food? We ate on the base, through the mess hall.

00:41:17.200 - 00:41:28.780

I thought it was pretty good. Anything I didn't have to cook was good. I am not a home person, you will see. It was pretty good.

00:41:28.780 - 00:41:39.000

I got kind of tired of eggs. And that purple cabbage, I'm not a cabbage freak anyway, and we had quite a lot of that purple cabbage. Remember that?

00:41:39.680 - 00:41:47.180

Did you get that? Oh, you were lucky. Tell me what a typical day would be like. Would you fly all day?

00:41:47.800 - 00:42:04.940

Oh no, it was half and half. We depended on which, they shifted us every once a week I think. One week we were mornings, we flew in the morning and had ground school in the afternoon the next week, I guess it was a week, we had ground school in the morning and flew in the

00:42:04.940 - 00:42:28.060

afternoon. That's the way it was done. Didn't you do that? EC: But the people that are going to be listening to you, they won't know. LG: Oh, I see. I forget. EC: What was ground school all about? LG: Oh, it was--. Well, I remember we had to learn code. Remember that code that the

00:42:29.840 - 00:42:34.340

God, deliver me. I never could get that. We had an awful time. I did.

00:42:34.740 - 00:42:49.440

A lot of the girls just breezed through it. They had it in brownies or something. Well, I never had brownies, so they could just do that up a storm. And here I was, I really can't carry a tune anyhow, so I had trouble with the sound.

00:42:50.160 - 00:42:54.880

That wasn't very good. I was so glad that that went out. I never did get it. I stayed around the field.

00:42:55.480 - 00:43:11.600

Okay, when you finished primary training, then what was your next phase? Well, we went into basic training and got to fly BTs. And I loved the BT. We had BT-13s and BT-15s. One of them was Pratt-Winton and the other was Wright engines.

00:43:12.580 - 00:43:24.440

I happen to remember that. Why? I don't know. But I liked them real well. And we didn't--let's see, I didn't have anything exciting happen to me I guess we got in that twin engine stuff.

00:43:24.520 - 00:43:33.660

Did you have that? Kelly: I did not have twin engine. Reed: You did not. Well, we had those UC-78s, you know, double-breasted cubs they called them.

00:43:34.740 - 00:43:44.940

We had a little bit of time in that after we had the AT-6. You just went straight into AT-6s, did you not, from primary? I would never have made that. I am glad we had the BTs.

00:43:44.940 - 00:43:57.640

Kelly: Oh, you would have. Because we got you know got every time I looked at a panel my heart Stopped did you do that? Lord I'd come from a cub

00:44:00.260 - 00:44:21.200

Air speed and a compass is about what it amounted to When I got in and I got in the Fairchild and saw that oh look at that panel it had two more I think ball, turning ball or whatever. Anyway, I had a couple more, and anyway, I finally got to where I knew what everything

00:44:21.280 - 00:44:36.840

was. And we moved into a BT. That was something else again, because it had more. It just had more—it seemed like too many instruments.

00:44:37.260 - 00:44:51.840

And then, of course, when I got into the AT-6, it had wheels up. It had more yet. Everyone I went into, my heart stopped for a minute because I didn't think, "I'll never get this in the cockpit.

00:44:52.080 - 00:45:04.060

I'll never get the panel in my mind." But I finally whipped them all. And then when we got in the twin engine, I don't know why they gave us that. Well, some of the girls flew twin engine.

00:45:04.780 - 00:45:22.980

They went out and went to ferry. They ferried twin engine. But of course, I just went to basic training school, so I did not have any of that problem. The only thing that happened to us, this girl and I were flying, and we had flown around

00:45:23.020 - 00:45:35.380

and something had happened to the generator. I do not know if we had turned the switch on. I think it was on, but there was something wrong with it. Because sometimes there is a little switch if you did not flip it, your generator went

00:45:35.380 - 00:45:50.440

out and then you did not have any lights or any power. Anyway, this happened to us when we got up there and everything blacked out. I guess it was at night. I guess we were doing night flying.

00:45:50.540 - 00:46:11.140

Did you do any of that? I think it was at night. Anyway, we flew around and the lights all went out. If the lights went out on you, you were supposed to buzz the tower.

00:46:12.480 - 00:46:25.400

So we buzzed the tower, and of course we could see things on the field, but they could not find us because we had no lights. Well, anyway, we went around one more time. Somehow or other they could not find us.

00:46:25.520 - 00:46:43.180

But anyway, I looked out and we had started the wheels down. She was flying and I was the observer, as they called it. I looked out and I had a wheel. I said, "Well, Story, I have got a wheel over here."

00:46:43.180 - 00:46:56.500

So okay, we will go in. So we went in and we were clear. We didn't get any sign from the tower, but we just went in. They ate on us too after that.

00:46:56.820 - 00:47:13.940

But anyway, we went ahead and landed. And we landed and we had trouble taxiing up to the line. And the next day when we got out and looked, our wheels had come down about halfway. It was a wonder we got on the ground, but like I said, God was with us.

00:47:14.540 - 00:47:28.120

And we got on the ground and they ate on us and said, "Well, you should have come by the tower another time and let us know where you were." Oh well, anyway. We didn't hurt anything or tear up the thing.

00:47:28.220 - 00:47:40.560

It was just sitting real close to the ground because the wheels only came down halfway. I don't know what they ever did with it, how they ever got them up. Did you have some cross-countries? Yeah, yeah.

00:47:40.560 - 00:47:50.560

I had a few. Oh, I got lost on one. We were two of us in this UC-78. We were taking a cross-country in this thing.

00:47:51.540 - 00:47:57.460

No, we weren't. We were in a six. Yeah, we were in a six, I guess. And this was Story and I again.

00:47:57.580 - 00:48:12.680

Our names—mine was Stewart, hers was Story, and we did a lot of flying together. We were buddied up. And anyway, we were flying. We were making our cross-country to—what's that one up north?

00:48:13.700 - 00:48:32.340

Amarillo, we were going to Amarillo, and we were going to go to Wichita Falls, then over to Amarillo, and spend the night in Amarillo and come back to Sweetwater the next morning. So we got started and we got to Wichita Falls, and everything was clear. There was a big group of us.

00:48:33.540 - 00:48:53.540

We got to Wichita Falls and the crap went coming in. And instead of stopping like a normal person would, well, we went on west because we were going towards Amarillo. And this stuff was coming in under us, and then there's a layer above us.

00:48:54.540 - 00:49:16.240

And instead of turning around and going back, we just kept flying, and then pretty soon got to raining straight down. And here we were about halfway to Amarillo and I couldn't see anything. So we circled and we saw, I saw, she was flying and I saw this muddy, just a muddy field,

00:49:16.700 - 00:49:31.340

but it looked flat, it didn't look like mud, you know, you couldn't tell. And I said, "Well, here's a flat field, maybe we can get in here," because we were desperate to get on the ground. Somehow or other, before we could get on it, something would wipe it out.

00:49:31.960 - 00:49:41.020

Clouds would come in. We were in this—God, I never saw anything like it. Texas, who knows? Anyway, stuff was coming in over this field.

00:49:42.500 - 00:49:57.540

And so, well, we couldn't land there. So we went another place, and there was a nice looking, flat looking place, and I thought, "Well, maybe we can get in there, Story, maybe we can get in there." So we went around to make a pass at that, and by golly, we saw this airfield.

00:49:58.600 - 00:50:15.960

There was a little old country airfield. This guy that lived on this ranch had him a plane, and he had this little—and we happened to be right there, Palladura Canyon. Anyway, we turned to try to get in so we could get in the longest runway, because we had

00:50:16.020 - 00:50:30.380

this six. Well, we couldn't do that, so we—it come in, like I said, below and wiped it out. She couldn't see anything. Then finally she'd come around this place that I thought we could land on, and suddenly

00:50:30.500 - 00:50:41.000

everything opened up and there was a short runway right in front of us. I said, "Get down there!" She just put everything on and got down, flaps and everything, and we got into it. And we slid.

00:50:41.060 - 00:50:51.460

It was muddy. It had rained. And it just slid right up to the barbed wire fence. And we were both on the controls by then and it went like this and ground looped it and

00:50:52.560 - 00:51:07.080

it was all right. We, you know, we did not hit anything. So anyway, then we got—no, we were in that AT—we were in that twin engine thing. That is what that was in.

00:51:08.180 - 00:51:24.160

Anyway, whatever. Then here we were. It had kind of quit raining by then, and here we sat out here on this ranch and we could We were kind of in a saucer-like shape, not a wash, but it was down.

00:51:24.380 - 00:51:39.980

There were hills on each side, sloping hills. I looked over to the place I thought maybe we could land, and it had burned. There were just two or three feet of mesquite stubs all over that thing. If we had tried to land there, it would have killed us both.

00:51:40.560 - 00:51:57.480

But anyway, fortunately we did not. So we got out and we had passed, in one of the coming around of our turns, we had passed a ranch house. So we thought—there was cattle out in this, out in the lane, just outside the fence.

00:51:58.260 - 00:52:12.980

And I said, "Story, one of us is supposed to stay with the plane." And I said, "Story, I'll stay with the plane, and you go to that ranch house and see if we can't get some help, or get to a telephone and report where we are." That's what we had to do, because our radio wouldn't work.

00:52:13.120 - 00:52:22.280

It was too far down in the, I guess in this dip. And no, she was afraid of those cows. She wouldn't do that. So I said, I wasn't afraid of cows, you know.

00:52:22.370 - 00:52:32.680

I knew they were range cattle and they weren't going to hurt anybody. And I said, "Okay, you stay with the plane and I'll go get the thing." Well, she didn't want to do that either. She didn't want to be left alone.

00:52:34.700 - 00:52:46.900

Anyway, I said, "Well, hell, we'll just both have to go." So we did. I had gobs on that mud. If you've waded around in Texas mud, well, don't.

00:52:47.360 - 00:52:57.320

You'll ruin your shoes." I had a nice pair of Oxfords, and believe you me, I could hardly carry them by the time I got to that house. It wasn't far, it was about a mile, and we walked back down there.

00:52:58.480 - 00:53:28.620

There was a woman in there all by herself, and we were wet as we could be. Anyway, she said, "Well, her husband worked for this cattleman, and there were three little houses there in a row, but we could not see the ranch headquarters." And so finally, she had a little old phone, so a phone that she could connect, she could

00:53:28.660 - 00:53:41.560

get to the ranch house is all she could call. So we got the ranch house and told them the man our trouble, and anyway we went back towards the plane. He said, "Well, he'll see what he can do."

00:53:41.560 - 00:54:03.220

And so he started to town, and he had to come right past this little airport, this little strip. So when he came back, a story got in with him, and he took her back up. We could see by then the stuff had cleared out, and you could see this ranch house, a

00:54:03.260 - 00:54:19.040

great big ranch house about two miles over on another little rise, little hill. So she went back over there, and the man's wife sent us some food and all kinds of things, and she could make a phone call and tell them where we were. They had girls scattered all over Texas.

00:54:19.760 - 00:54:34.440

Part of the reason we went on and did not turn back was about the time we were ready to think about turning back, this airplane passed us. more girls in one of these things, just right on, waved and went on. We thought, "Well, if they can do it, we can.

00:54:34.580 - 00:54:43.460

You know, what the heck." I do not know who they were, they went on into Amarillo, whatever. Maybe they had Woku time, whatever. They were not like us.

00:54:43.540 - 00:54:53.860

We were scattered there. But they did have another girl or two lost, but they did not lose anybody. Nobody died. I guess we were maybe the worst lost.

00:54:54.300 - 00:55:08.400

We did find a strip. So then they sent the flight leader, Crabby, old devil. I can't remember what his name was. Crabby.

00:55:08.880 - 00:55:23.000

But he was pretty mad at us anyway, because we didn't go back. He said, "Why didn't you go back to Wichita Falls? That's where we should have done." We said, "Well, we thought we could go on."

00:55:23.000 - 00:55:40.980

But anyway, I thought the story did real good. She got the thing in there and did not skin it up, you know, did not tear anything loose on it or anything. So anyway, then somebody, a pilot flew in to help us, to get us out I guess.

00:55:42.440 - 00:55:59.900

He brought, what was that guy's name, Wade or something. Anyway he brought him out and then when he went back to go to Amarillo, I just jumped up in—it was an AT-6 and I just got up in it. So Story had to fly the plane out, and she did okay.

00:56:00.160 - 00:56:13.900

She got it out. Anyway, when we got into Amarillo, I do not know if we spent the night. I guess we did. I think we stayed in the barracks that night and then went on back to Sweetwater the next

00:56:14.060 - 00:56:23.200

day. I cannot remember exactly. The excitement was over by then anyhow, because we had got in and out. >> And then did you have to go before the board?

00:56:24.380 - 00:56:31.640

>> You know I can't remember. I think we did have some trouble. >> I would imagine. >> I think they did give us a little static.

00:56:32.820 - 00:56:48.160

I think they were so glad nobody was killed that they really didn't do too much, you know. Because it could have been Harry, you know, really. And they didn't lose any girls, and well, they lost two of them, but they weren't in my class.

00:56:49.460 - 00:57:01.780

Did any of your baymates wash out? No. One resigned, but she didn't wash out. She was the Jeannie Moore.

00:57:01.980 - 00:57:11.260

She came to find out they'd assigned her stuff to go up and do, and she wouldn't do it. She was scared. She was just afraid.

00:57:13.880 - 00:57:24.520

She did not even finish training because she just said, "I just cannot do it." So she got out. Kelly: Of the airplanes that you flew there, what was your favorite? Reifeltt: Oh, the 86.

00:57:24.820 - 00:57:34.600

Everybody loved the 86. Kelly: While you were there, did you know what the girls were doing who had already graduated? Were you aware?

00:57:34.600 - 00:57:53.120

Reifeltt: No, there were rumors that kept floating around. A lot of them said—you know that first class or two that was graduated, they were ahead of stuff. Or some of them, maybe Ms. Loves—anyway, there was a group in there that a lot of them

00:57:53.160 - 00:58:06.160

said, "Well, you won't get any flying time if you go to Love Field," which was Dallas. Because of this other group that was in there, they did the assigning of who did the flying, and so none of us wanted to go to Love Field.

00:58:08.480 - 00:58:17.220

That was just a rumor. I do not know if there was any truth to it. I never did hear because I did not—they sent me to the training command anyway. I did not get in the ferry command.

00:58:17.600 - 00:58:29.480

And it is a good thing because I was not that sharp of a navigator. I would have been lost all over the United States, as it was a state-of-the-art run field and did not kill myself. So it worked all right.

00:58:29.670 - 00:58:47.240

What was your graduation like from Avenger? We had all out on the field, and everybody dressed up in their general's outfit or whatever we called them, I can't remember, the brown tan pants and the white top, and a little hat.

00:58:49.200 - 00:59:03.740

It was just a regular—they called them Ames and Week went out and got our diploma. We didn't have any wings then. You got wings when you got out. Well, see, there were no wings, but Miss Cochran had gone and made the kind.

00:59:03.800 - 00:59:18.780

I should have brought my wings. I got two, the ones that she had made from, I think, bombardier's wings. We all had those, and then later on, they issued us the regular ones, like my ring. Kelly: With the diamond?

00:59:18.870 - 00:59:36.240

Burke: Yes, the diamond. Kelly: So, when you graduated, did they give you a choice of assignments? Well, we could sign up for different places, but someone said, "At any point in signing up, you're not going to get what you want anyway."

00:59:36.620 - 00:59:52.220

I kind of wanted to go to Romulus, which was in Michigan. I had a friend, Jeanne Wilson, and I. It was close to her home, and she wanted to go, and I thought, "Well, I'll just go with Jeanne."

00:59:52.220 - 00:59:59.820

So, I sat down at Romulus. Of course, I didn't get it. EC: Did you have some time off between graduation? JB: Yeah, we did.

01:00:00.000 - 01:00:07.820

I went home, and I really don't remember how long it was. Maybe a month. Wasn't too long. EC: Maybe a week?

01:00:07.860 - 01:00:22.960

JB: Maybe a week. I don't really know, but I did go. No, I didn't go home. You know, that was during the time of gas shortage.

01:00:23.520 - 01:00:38.160

But my mother and father, they enveigled enough to come and see my graduation, which I was happy for. And they went on with me, then up to Sweetwater. I drove with them in the car.

01:00:39.340 - 01:00:48.480

And that was... >> And by this time, your husband had gone into the Army. >> Yeah, I don't really know where he was. I wasn't interested in him.

01:00:48.840 - 01:01:00.100

I was so interested in flying. Yeah, he had gone in. I was hearing from him, but he went overseas. He went to Officers Candidate School in Georgia, wherever that was.

01:01:02.660 - 01:01:10.260

Then after that, he went over. They sent him overseas. So, you did not see him after graduation? I cannot remember that I did.

01:01:10.600 - 01:01:27.240

I really cannot remember that I did. Your first assignment then was to what field? Well, I went to Dodge City to B-26, and I could not fly them either, so I did not stay up there very long.

01:01:27.250 - 01:01:39.880

I stayed through training, and then there were a couple more girls in my squad. So then where did you go? Then I went to Sweetwater. Not Sweetwater, Enid, Enid, Oklahoma.

01:01:40.520 - 01:01:51.420

And what mission did the Enid base, were they a training— It was a basic training class. They just had a bunch of cadets, but they wouldn't let them fly the planes until they'd been tested, whatever, you know.

01:01:51.820 - 01:01:58.820

If there was anything done to one, we did the testing. Kelly: So you were an engineering test pilot? Beall: Yeah, I guess that's what you'd call it. I never did know.

01:01:59.100 - 01:02:17.340

Kelly: Yeah. Where did you live? Beall: We lived on the—oh, no, this—I had a friend that was there. Her name was Mack, Harriet MacLean.

01:02:18.060 - 01:02:32.520

She had been stationed in Lubbock. I guess she had trouble with whatever. She was towing targets, and she didn't like that either. So anyway, we both got sent to Enid.

01:02:35.220 - 01:02:51.800

We had an apartment in Enid, and then we drove out every morning. She had a car. She did not have a car, but she had a car so we could drive back and forth. We drove out to the Air Force Base every day for quite a little while, until I guess—well,

01:02:52.880 - 01:03:04.600

no, she finally left. She resigned too. But then by then there were some other girls out there. Well, we moved on to the base, that is what we did.

01:03:05.200 - 01:03:18.660

I guess after Mack left, I moved on to the base and I lived in one of the barracks. I lived with some WACs. There were three WACs. EC: Were they WAC officers?

01:03:19.150 - 01:03:35.080

DW: Yeah, they were WAC officers, and we lived in the same part of the barracks as they did. It was shut off. Upstairs was all fellows, and then we had a door that they locked. We just had a small area, because there wasn't very many of them.

01:03:35.660 - 01:03:46.600

EC: When you went there, were you the first WASP to be assigned there? FG: Yeah. There was three of us. This was before Mack came, yeah?

01:03:46.940 - 01:03:56.480

Mack, and then one other girl. She resigned. I don't know why I couldn't get those girls resigning. They couldn't have gotten me loose with it.

01:03:57.560 - 01:04:05.080

You know. EC: And did you stay there for the entire time until it was over? Until it was deactivated. Yeah, until the back.

01:04:06.740 - 01:04:15.640

While you were there, did you get any temporary assignments? Did you go to OCS, for example? Yeah, we went to Dallas. We went to something in Dallas.

01:04:15.840 - 01:04:36.780

Not Dallas, Florida. We made a long trip over to some kind of, I don't know, we took an altitude test, I remember. And we were there right in the middle of June, it was hot as it could be. That was—we were in Orlando, and it was an instrument thing, I think.

01:04:36.980 - 01:04:42.220

Did you take that? Kelly: No. Was it called OCS? Is that what you went to?

01:04:42.260 - 01:04:46.940

Dyer: I don't remember. I really just don't remember. Kelly: Do you recall how you got there and how you got back? Dyer: We took a train.

01:04:47.100 - 01:04:58.400

I never had ridden a train before. And we took this train and went clear across country in this train. Anything interesting happen? No, I can't remember.

01:04:58.740 - 01:05:18.880

There was quite a few of the girls there. I remember going up in the—we took this—we was all in this room and they did something to the pressure so that it would be an altitude test, and I'd never had that before. It was interesting.

01:05:20.160 - 01:05:34.840

One girl turned real, her skin got real dark. I guess she was, you know, lack of oxygen. I don't remember how high we were supposed to have gone, 30,000 feet or something, but it was interesting.

01:05:35.880 - 01:05:54.840

And then you went back to Enid, and while you were at Enid, what was the social life like? Oh, well, we were just on our own. We ate in the mess hall, the officers' mess, and we had a little privilege of the officers.

01:05:55.480 - 01:06:19.600

They were very nice to us. I understood that the commanding officer, before we came there, he knew we were coming. One of the fellows told me that he called them all together, they had a meeting, and He told them that the WASPs were coming and you will be nice to them or else.

01:06:21.620 - 01:06:35.860

We never had any trouble at all. We never had, and I know a lot of the girls did have, but we were well treated and didn't have any trouble with dates. They were all nice.

01:06:35.980 - 01:06:50.520

We had a good time. Do you feel that what you did at Enid was helpful as far as the mission of the Army Air Force? I do not know if it was helpful or not.

01:06:50.520 - 01:07:07.340

It was certainly a lot of fun. I guess at least the one thing we did show was that women could do it, even dumb ones like me. You do not have to be a brain to fly an airplane.

01:07:08.960 - 01:07:27.100

You proved that. Yeah, I proved that, thoroughly proved that. Do you recall when you heard the WASPs were going to be deactivated and how it made you feel? Oh, I was just devastated. We all were. It was very gloomy around there for a while.

01:07:27.480 - 01:07:41.700

I just could hardly believe it. They can't do without us, that type thing. But anyway, it happened. And I caught the train home.

01:07:42.060 - 01:07:59.000

I guess I was on the train by then. No, I caught the train and came to El Reno. Then I had to lay over in El Reno and got one into El Paso, Texas. And someone met me in El Paso and drove home.

01:07:59.660 - 01:08:06.020

Did the air base do anything special when you left? Honor the Wasp? You know, I don't think so. I can't remember.

01:08:06.660 - 01:08:14.700

I really don't remember. Okay. Then when you got back home, what did you do then? By this time, though, you had your uniform, right?

01:08:15.220 - 01:08:22.380

Oh, yeah. Yeah, we had gone down to—Mac and I had gone down to Sweetwater and got picked up our uniforms. Yeah, we had our uniforms.

01:08:23.220 - 01:08:40.920

Because before we had to wear, I had a pair of pinks, they called them, and a green shirt. And they looked nice. And then some of them had the green, but I liked the pink pants. The only thing is we did not have a coat.

01:08:41.180 - 01:09:05.480

But when I was there, it was in summertime and it did not matter anyway. And then after we got our clothes, I guess, before it got cold, because then we had coats, had a nice gray coat, had our uniform. Do you recall when you went home with that uniform on, how you felt?

01:09:08.660 - 01:09:16.040

No, I really don't. Once you got back home to Globe, is that where you went? Yeah. Then what did you do?

01:09:16.660 - 01:09:42.720

Well, I went right back to the ranch because I did not know what else to do. My dad at that time, they could not get cowboys, so I helped him on the ranch. I told somebody that I traded my parachute for a saddle, so I went back to helping him until the war was over, and then I remarried.

01:09:43.640 - 01:09:51.960

My husband and I had divorced by then. So it was— Kelly: And when you remarried, where did you live? In Globe?

01:09:51.970 - 01:10:05.700

Reifelt: Yeah, we lived in Globe for a while, and then we moved to—we moved down here in about—I don't remember when we did, in 1980? No, that's when we moved out here. We moved down here about 1946.

01:10:05.910 - 01:10:14.900

Kelly: Somewhere in that interim, did you learn to dance? Reifelt: Dance? Yeah. I learned.

01:10:18.140 - 01:10:39.140

You are talking about my belly dancing, aren't you? I want to hear about that. Well, my husband and I were living where we are now, I guess, where I am now. Anyway, I needed something to do.

01:10:39.140 - 01:10:58.100

I needed exercise, because I've been an exercise freak all my life. I was going to this, they called it Sure Image. It was a women's spa, and they had all kinds of exercise, machines and stuff like that. I enjoyed that.

01:10:58.580 - 01:11:20.100

Anyway, one of the girls, one of the instructors there, she taught belly dancing. would do, but I had to learn belly dancing, and I went to that for several times. I liked it, so I found a private teacher and we did quite a lot of it. >> Were you good?

01:11:20.770 - 01:11:40.480

>> Well, we passed. I do not know how good we were, but they used to pay us to dance at places. We got a group, my instructor, the teacher that we had, she was excellent, she was very good.

01:11:41.940 - 01:11:59.160

She had a group going and we joined, my other friend and I. We used to go around to the trailer parks. They used to have quite a lot of entertaining. They all go now to the casino.

01:12:00.020 - 01:12:11.420

But at that time, they did not have a casino, and so we used to go to the trailer parks and dance. They would either take up a collection or pay us a flat fee. It was not very much, but it was enough to keep us going.

01:12:12.340 - 01:12:28.320

What was your costume like, or your dress? They were real fancy. Most of the girls, in fact the ones that were better and had more shape, they wore the little bra and skimpy bottom with like, I like Jeannie.

01:12:29.380 - 01:12:43.460

You know Jeannie and the- Kelly: I dream of Jeannie. Roslyn: Well, that's, and they were that type with the, usually they had the pantaloons. But this friend of mine had done a lot of, and she lived close to me.

01:12:43.460 - 01:12:57.660

We used to go back and forth to classes together. And she had done more belly dancing than I had. She was a little younger and she had just done more. She had been at it forever, and she had a daughter that did it.

01:12:58.360 - 01:13:20.160

And everywhere she moved, she got her a new teacher. So she had had a lot of teachers, and she knew more about it. So she had what they called—well, it was a—I do not know what they called it, but anyway, it was a long tunic-like thing, and then we wore the belt around low on our hips.

01:13:20.820 - 01:13:33.720

And then we had a full skirt and the pantaloons under it. And I liked that better because neither one of us, you know, we didn't want to show our middle. My middle was not that good and neither was hers.

01:13:34.200 - 01:13:48.720

So that way we were completely covered and we liked that. And besides that, when we went to places, we always wore cover-up because some of the girls got, you know, they were pretty bare. And some of the people in the parks didn't like it, you know.

01:13:49.740 - 01:14:01.380

And it was—anyway, we had a good time. We did it for a long time. I was sixty-seven when I learned to do it. Someone said, "Ask me, 'How long have you been doing this?'

01:14:01.380 - 01:14:11.680

'Well, three years.'" But I was sixty-seven when I learned, and so someone would say, "Oh, well, I can't learn that." And shoot, how old are you?

01:14:11.880 - 01:14:22.820

"Well, maybe thirty-five." Get out there and try. It was good exercise. I mean, I got an inner ear problem and I get dizzy.

01:14:23.300 - 01:14:36.080

I still take lessons every week. It's more of a, you know, just a friendly get-together, but we do different routines and we're practicing one right now. But it's, you know.

01:14:36.300 - 01:14:53.640

So you're still doing it? Oh yeah, but I don't go with them to the different parks. And actually they're doing now more at senior citizens and nursing homes because the parks don't have as much of it.

01:14:53.720 - 01:15:10.700

Some of them are going to parks yet, but not as much as they used to because like I said, they all went to going to the casinos and they didn't want entertainment at home. In fact, someone said, "Well, it was a choice of going to the casino or having you girls come and dance, so we went to the casino."

01:15:10.700 - 01:15:28.140

So you can't whip the cow. You can't, you know. EC: When did you last give up being a cowgirl on the ranch? FG: Oh, well, after my husband and I married, my last husband, Jackson.

01:15:30.180 - 01:15:50.660

Well, no, because he was in cattle, and I used to ride with him up on the mountain. I guess after we retired, which was in 1980, he had a stroke. After that, he had to kind of quit writing and he could not do much. Then he retired in '80 or '81.

01:15:52.320 - 01:16:07.600

So then we gave up the ranch and we moved into—we had this property, so we put a double white on it and lived in it until he died. He died in '84. So I've been right there and been a widow ever since.

01:16:08.160 - 01:16:19.340

Do you ever ride for fun now? No. Well, my folks sold the ranch and there's really no—well, he used to rope, and when he'd rope sometimes I'd ride.

01:16:20.800 - 01:16:38.640

There was a chance I would ride, but after we retired, I haven't done any since. What do you do with your time now besides dancing? Nothing. Do you volunteer for anything?

01:16:38.920 - 01:17:01.960

No, and I've been fighting this blood pressure lately. But I kept busy. I do aerobics three times a week, and I used to do yoga and tai chi. I did that up until two years ago when this inner ear bit thing started on me.

01:17:02.540 - 01:17:22.520

So I really just am so dizzy a lot of the time that I can't do a lot. And a lot of times, well, there's some blood pressure like this, I don't feel good so much of the time, and I really don't do much of anything. I try to keep up my exercises if I can, and I go to church on Sunday, and that's about

01:17:22.570 - 01:17:35.860

it. I don't really do very much. I try to keep, I have a little, I like to plant things, and I try to have a little, I have mostly desert stuff, but I try to keep it alive, and that's about all I do.

01:17:36.500 - 01:17:58.220

Let me ask you, Evelyn, of all the things that you've done in your life, your whole life, what is the one thing that you're most proud of? I guess the fly. I don't talk about it a lot, but I just don't like to blow my own horn.

01:18:00.080 - 01:18:13.600

But your history. Let me ask you, what is your personal opinion of Jacqueline Cochran and the WASC program that she was responsible for? Oh, I just think she's great.

01:18:13.800 - 01:18:24.280

I can't say enough good about her. She was just great. And if it hadn't been for her, there were so many of us wouldn't have ever got a chance to fly.

01:18:24.500 - 01:18:37.080

Right. And what do you feel the legacy of the WASP will be? Oh, I don't know. I think we opened the door for women in flying.

01:18:43.500 - 01:19:01.820

If you could say something to children in future generations to encourage them to try things that they dream about, what words of encouragement or what advice would you give them? Well, don't think that you can't do something, because you can.

01:19:03.820 - 01:19:23.960

You know, you limit yourself if you say, "I can't do it." Let me ask you this last question. In your life, you've had good times and I'm sure there are some bad times, and some happy times and some sad times.

01:19:24.780 - 01:20:05.900

What has gotten you through the sad times? Well, I have a deep belief in God. My teaching that I have is Middle Eastern Indian, not Middle Island Indian. I have a teacher in India and I've studied, I've been with him for thirty years.

01:20:08.640 - 01:20:26.820

We do a meditation, we are supposed to meditate and I am a vegetarian, and that has done a lot for me, very much. I have a, well it is just the way things are. The way I feel.

01:20:26.930 - 01:20:46.380

Kelly: Right, but your roots are centered in God. I want you to know you are an inspiration. We really, yeah, thank you so much. Well, I hope, I've run on.

01:20:47.180 - 01:21:03.400

No, you haven't. And on behalf of children and future generations, I thank you, because they're going to love your story. I promise. Well, I hope. They will. Thank you, Evelyn. It's been a joy. It's been a joy.

01:21:03.740 - 01:21:12.660

I don't know why I teared up. Do you have anything else that you want to say? Do you want to sing a little song here at the end? Or maybe show us how to belly dance?

01:21:14.460 - 01:21:25.840

Or is there anything that I've left out? That I didn't keep a diary. At the time I was in Sweetwater and taking more pictures. You took a lot of pictures.

01:21:26.460 - 01:21:28.120

Huh? You took a lot of pictures.