Army wives tell their stories

Army, Nov 2002 by Lee, Judith Schreiber

The Army Family Oral History Project is cochaired by two volunteers, Betty Rutherford and Dana Fontenot. A small group of volunteers conduct interviews with Army wives of all ranks. Their stories are taped transcribed, put on acid free paper and placed in the Special Collections Archives at the Combined Arms Research Library (CARL) at Fort Leavenworth. The project is funded by donations from the Association of the U.S. Army, the Fort Leavenworth Spouses' Club and the Fort Leavenworth Thrift Shop.

At a ceremony on January 27, 2002, the first 30 interviews of the "20th Century Army Spouse Interview Collection" were placed in the CARL, where they will be preserved and will be accessible to interested historians, writers and researchers. The oral histories provide a picture otherwise not available on the conditions of life as an Army spouse. This can also be "a resource for policy makers, determining how things should be done," said Crow. "We are seeing a revolution in taking care of the total Army family."

The goal is to collect enough interviews so that scholars and researchers will have a substantial body of first-hand accounts of Army life in the 20th century. The accounts written by 19th-century wives such as Libby Custer, Martha Summerhayes and Alice Grierson have provided insight on an aspect of our Westward movement that few, if any, of the male participants chose to describe. "The experiences of 20th-century wives have never been gathered. The events they lived through, all the trials and tribulations of being an unofficial ambassador, have never been told," said Fontenot. "We didn't want to lose that part of the Army history. And we want to begin interviewing male spouses who have become an integral part of the spouse story as well," Fontenot added.

The project can continue and grow but needs volunteer interviewers in other parts of the country. A how-to handbook enables new volunteers to learn the art of conducting an interview as well as the information and materials needed to make that interview a part of the AFOHP Collection. Rutherford says, "The stories from the wives of soldiers and officers, from World War II to Vietnam and Desert Storm, are sometimes funny, sometimes sad, but always gripping. Without this unique historical project, this vital part of U.S. Army history would be lost forever."

JUDITH SCHREIBER LEE, an Army wife of 19 years, currently resides at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where she is a volunteer interviewer for the Oral History Project. She has a degree in journalism and is a freelance writer.