Oral History of Ida Ostendorff, interviewed by Rebecca Michaud, 1 March, 2011
Title
Oral History of Ida Ostendorff, interviewed by Rebecca Michaud, 1 March, 2011
Subject
Description
Ida Ostendorff was born in Gilbert, South Carolina. At the start of WWII she traveled to Washington D.C. where she passed a typing course and began work as a “government girl” working in the Judge Advocate General’s office. In 1942, upon turning 21 and meeting the minimum age requirement, she jointed the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). She completed her basic training at Ft. Oglethorpe, Georgia, where she was trained to use a gas mask. She volunteered for an assignment overseas and traveled to New York City to embark on the Queen Elizabeth. She landed in Scotland on June 6, 1944, having no idea at the time that it was D-Day. She was then transported to her assignment at Stone Staffordshire, England. On her way there she remembers the commotion caused by the Normandy landings: “As we were going along, people were just waving wildly to us because they knew it was D-Day, but we didn’t know it.” She remained in England until the end of the war. She met her husband after the war when they both took the same French class. They were married for 61 years and have five children, several of whom have served in the military.
Listen to the audio on the Lowcountry Digital Library.
Source
Women in World War II
Publisher
The Citadel Archives & Museum
Date
Rights
Materials in The Citadel Archives & Museum Digital Collections are intended for educational and research use. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. For more information contact The Citadel Archives & Museum, The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, 29409.
Format
application/pdf
Language
English
Type
Text
Identifier
https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/167
Coverage
Charleston (S.C.)
Duration
44 minutes
Interviewer
Rebecca Michaud
Interviewee
Ida Ostendorff
Location
Charleston, South Carolina
Collection
Citation
The Charleston Oral History Program at the Citadel, “Oral History of Ida Ostendorff, interviewed by Rebecca Michaud, 1 March, 2011,” The Citadel Archives Digital Collections, accessed May 15, 2024, https://citadeldigitalarchives.omeka.net/items/show/167.