King High Remembers

1. King High Remembers Kelly Cobb, Geness Acosta, Alessandra Gargicevich-Almeida

2. On Friday, March 23, we interviewed an amazing, sincere, sweet, and kind-hearted lady named Ms. Lucy Whitely. This is her story.

3. Early Life • Born on August 27th, 1923 in North Carolina. • Family of 8 children; 3 older brothers, and 4 sisters. Ms. Lucy was the third youngest child in her family. • Lived in a big house with an African American cook/maid.

4. Early life • Ms. Lucy applied to the University of Tennessee and was not accepted due to the fact that there was “too many veterans” who had already applied. • Later attended Ohio North University at the age of eighteen. • Transferred to a nursing school at Duke University • “I was, and still am, a firm believer in education.”

5. Her older brother, George, went into the military, inspiring her to follow in his footsteps. • At the age of 21, Ms. Lucy entered the service as a head nurse for the Navy. • “It was just something that I felt I had to do.”

6. Life at War • Ms. Lucy started at Fort Ben in Georgia where she did her 30 days of basic training. • From there, she flew to New York and waited to be deployed. • Because of the wait, they watched many concerts, radio shows, and saw the Broadway musical Oklahoma.

7. Life at War • From New York, she was flown to a little town in North Eastern Italy. • She was in charge of the operation room with two German POW’s (prisoners of war) that worked with her as pre-med students. • She claimed that the German POW’s were some of the best bakers she had ever met.

8. Life at War • They lived in a designated area where half belonged to the British and the other half was stationed to America. • The half that the British owned/controlled, was the water system and the electricity. • Unfortunately, each floor was only allowed one water basin per day.

9. Life at War • Ms. Lucy’s most memorable procedure was on three military G.I.’s who were cleaning up a gas spill when it soon caught on fire. • These men were severely burned and taken to the facility where Lucy worked. • They were kept in the operation room for many days and later shipped off to complete their service when they were in stable condition.

10. Entertainment in the War • During her downtime, Ms. Lucy loved to have fun. • Shopping in Venice, going to the beach, sailing in the Adriatic Sea, spending time in the mountains, and dancing the night away. • “I could dance all night long!” • Ms. Lucy wrote letters to her mom and dad as often as she could.

11. Love Story • Ms. Lucy took a two week trip to Switzerland with her boyfriend, Cliff, who she had been dating off and on. • They took a train to Geneva, Switzerland, to see a basketball game where they met up with a group of friends. • Within that group of friends was a man named Bill. • “He’s the one.”

12. Love Story • Lucy and Bill soon became engaged. • They wanted to get married as soon as possible, but they needed a civilian ceremony to be legally married. • Because of this, they needed to purchase a marriage license which they paid for with money they earned from selling cigarettes.

13. Love Story • They got married and had their honeymoon in Venice, Italy. • Soon after they were legally married, they wanted to leave the service. • Bill was able to go, however, Lucy was unable to leave due to her position as head nurse in the operation room. • “I’m not going home without you,” said Bill. • Ms. Lucy then changed her position to staff nurse which allowed her to head home with her husband. • “He was the smartest man I ever knew… because he married me.”

14. Family Life • Her and Bill had three wonderful daughters. • Their oldest daughter is a principle at a middle school, middle daughter is an assistant superintendent, and their youngest is married with four adopted children from Russia.

15. End of Service • Bill and Ms. Lucy left the service together where they went to Fort Brad for discharge. • Her last day of service was on her 23rd birthday. • “Any time you enjoy something and it’s over, you always have a little bit of sadness.” • Unfortunately, after forty years of marriage, they got divorced. • “I still love him and always will.”

16. Years After Service • When she returned home, she received her Masters degree through the G.I. Bill. • *The G.I. Bill was a law that provided benefits for World War II veterans, including low-cost mortgages, payments of tuition, etc. • In 1958, she moved to California where she lived in Dana Point for over 20 years. • She lived by the Marine Base where she volunteered and served dinners to the Marines. • “The Marines hold a special place in my heart.” • Her priority was raising her children, although she continued to work in the medical field. • At the age of 62, Ms. Lucy retired and was later offered a volunteer job at a hospital where she helped out for eight more years.

17. Years After Service • At the age of 65, Ms. Lucy learned how to ski for the first time ever! • On her 80th birthday, she went on a three day rafting trip where she went white water rafting. • She still enjoys dancing and having a good time with her friends.

18. Current Life • Ms. Lucy continues to live at Air Force Village West, which is a retirement facility for those 60 or better and dedicated to the well being of a very special group of people - those who have served in the military. • She volunteers at March Air Force where she makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for military personnel. • “The thing I am most grateful for is that I’m able to do what I can do and still have a little smarts up here.”

19. We Love You Ms. Lucy! • The three of us continue to keep in contact with Ms. Lucy and are very excited to have dinner with her this Thursday at her home. • We are very honored to have this experience with such an inspirational lady.

21. “Friends are ones most precious possessions.” -Ms. Lucy Whitely