[Interview Begins]

SPRAGUE: Today is June 1st, 2023. This is an interview with Donna Drew, who served in the United States Marine Corps from October 1989 to December I'm sorry, September 1993. Donna entered the service as Donna Rolling. This interview is being conducted by Luke Spragg at the Waukesha Public Library for the I Am Not Invisible Project for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. No one else is present in the interview room. Okay, Donna, where did you grow up? 

DREW: I grew up right here in Waukesha, Wisconsin, born and raised for 18 years before I left for the Marine Corps. 

SPRAGUE: And just out of curiosity, what did your family do? 

DREW: When I was growing up, my mom mostly stayed at home, stay at home mom with four kids. And my dad. Was that you worked at UPS as a manager? 

SPRAGUE: Okay. And what schools did you attend? 

DREW: Let's see. Kindergarten. I attended Hawthorne School. I think it's still there. And then middle school or school Up until eighth grade. I attended C Williams Middle School and high school was Catholic Memorial High School. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. So what made you initially want to join the military? For. 

DREW: Lots of reasons. I was I didn't do the best in high school, so I didn't know where to go. I wanted to get out of Wisconsin. I figured that there was more to life than Waukesha, Wisconsin, So I wanted to get out. Didn't know how to get out. You know, I could have gone to college, but I didn't really feel that I was ready for it. So I had thought about joining the military. My dad was a Vietnam vet, so I thought that was pretty cool that he did that. And I thought I could maybe follow in his footsteps. So when I looked at the branches, I thought the Navy would be kind of cool because I like to cook. And for some reason in my mind, I thought at that point I wanted to be on submarines. But now knowing that back in that time women weren't allowed on submarines. And why would I want to be on a submarine? I don't know. So actually, the recruiter, the Marine Corps recruiter called my house one day to talk to my brother, who was already in college. And I had said to him, I, I want to think I want to join, because in talking with him, I thought if I'm going to join any branches, I might as well join the toughest branch. So that's kind of where it got started. 

SPRAGUE: Did you ever have any conversations with your brother about joining the Corps? 

DREW: No, no. I think my most of my family kind of thought I was a little weird to wanted to do that. My mom, who had to sign for me because I was still 17, she was not wanting to sign for me. She said no, actually in the beginning she was afraid that it would change me, which it did. And then. My dad had my parents already divorced at that time. So my dad was he was supportive of whatever I decided to do. So so my mom had eventually had to sign for me. Actually, I asked her on Christmas Eve the year before, so I was 88 just to sign for me. And that's when she was like, Oh goodness, no. So that was a big, big argument between us, too. But she eventually did sign for me and I told her that's what I really wanted to do. 

SPRAGUE: What were her reservations in particular? 

DREW: Well, she thought that I would it would change me. And she also thought that it would make me really mean. Yeah, because I've always been a pretty nice person. So she thought I would just be mean and swear a lot was her her thoughts. And it is true. It did happen. I mean, I did become mean, but a little tougher. A whole lot tougher and probably swear a little too much now. 

SPRAGUE: And you had mentioned your father was a Vietnam vet. Yes. How did that factor into the equation? 

DREW: He didn't talk about it a lot, but I knew about it and just doing it some research, you know, of course, in school and learning about him, I really thought that, you know, he's kind of a bad ass, that he joined, you know, voluntarily and knew that he was going to Vietnam and, you know, took that oath and wanted to fight for his country. So I thought that was pretty cool. So I, you know, without knowing a whole lot of what he did, I mean, no, we fixed helicopters. But I thought if, you know, if he could do that and serve his country, then then I should. 

SPRAGUE: What was your father's name? 

DREW: I'm Tim. Rolling. 

SPRAGUE: Okay, so you finally got your your mother to sign. You were still 17 at the. 

DREW: Correct. 

SPRAGUE: What changed her mind? 

DREW: I think I just really asked her to. I was I said, well, if you don't sign, I'm going to ask my dad to sign. I kind of got a little manipulative there. Try to get my own way. She didn't like that. So she eventually I think she told me a while ago that she'd. Talked to a couple of her friends about it and her friends were like, That's great. Like, Donna has a purpose. She wants to do something. She wants to fight for our country like that. Like you should. You should support that. So I think with help from her friends and supported from her friends, she she agreed to sign for me. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. Did you have any other family members who served? 

DREW: No, not in my immediate family, just my dad. And then I have a cousin who was in the Navy and my dad's side. And then years later, I have a cousin on my mom's side that joined the Marine Corps. So that's not really a problem. I'm not really from a family that that has served. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. So tell me about your experience about being in processed and coming into the Marine Corps. 

DREW: Oh, boy. Yeah, that was a long time ago. But what I do remember is my. Recruiter, Staff Sergeant Rogan. I will always remember that name. Right. We always remember, I think, a recruiters name because that was a big part of our lives. Well, before that, they had put me as a pulley. So we met all the pulleys who were getting ready to go into boot camp. We met maybe once a week to like petty talk about what we're expecting, you know, boot camp to be like. I had to watch a couple videos, of course, take my Asvab test, you know, just those those things. Because every time I went to the recruiter station, you know, there were both there's one there was a Sergeant Roman, and I was always a like a PFC or PFC that just had gotten out of school or like Gary was able to to do a recruiting duty. So they were always dressed in, you know, dress blues. And, you know, just I think from that beginning, it's like we took on that pride because I really, really wanted to wear those dress blues. So I got a lot of motivation. I remember in particular, there was some reservation about just joining in the Marine Corps, and I remember having to do like a pros and cons list with my recruiter. And, you know, the pros lists were like, I would say like 20 of them, you know, getting out of Wisconsin, going overseas, meeting new people, doing having a job, getting money for college. And the only con was that I didn't want to go to war. That was, you know, I was it that was a free I wasn't say it was a comp, but that was the biggest thing that I was worried about. I didn't I didn't want to die. But so that was yeah. So we talked a lot about that. And, you know, basically if that's, you know, what had to happen for being for our country, you know, with looking at like what my dad did when my dad sacrificed, when everyone else is sacrificed, I could do that too. So that fear actually actually wasn't there anymore. It was a little fear, but it wasn't a big con for me not to join it. That makes sense. 

SPRAGUE: Tell me about arriving at boot camp. 

DREW: Oh, yes, good question. So I never flew an airplane before. And so my my best friend Wendy joined with me. So we she was my best friend in high school. And I remember getting on the flight, you know, saying goodbye to my family. It was back in the time when your family could walk with you to the gate saying goodbye. Super excited, nervous about the air flight airplane. And I remember flying into Buford, South Carolina. And, you know, as soon as we got off the flight, we got all shoved us in this bus. You know, men and women. At that point, we were all together. I really don't remember any other women on that bus. I remember seeing a lot of men. So we was and this was also at night, I think we arrived probably like 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning. It was around there. It was it was it was nighttime. So we got off the bus. Well, actually, we didn't get off the bus. Soon as we pulled up, the drill instructors just came in screaming, hollering like immediately at us. And I think that was the point where I was like, What did I get myself into? I knew it was coming. You know, I saw the videos, you know, didn't have YouTube back then, so I couldn't really do much research. So I knew it was coming, but I didn't know it was coming like that fast. Like in your face. In your face. Like it literally. They would come down into your face and scream at you, you know, Get off the bus. Get off the bus. That's how I remember them saying. So of course, we were able the women were able to bring. And belong is with us. The men were not. So I remember just kind of collecting my little bag and getting off the bus and getting on those yellow footprints. That's. And continually getting yelled at. So and in that point, that's when they separated the men and the women. We weren't in every event, not didn't see a man for three months after that or accepted the rifle range. They were they helped us in. 

SPRAGUE: So a couple of follow up questions. What was your best friend's name? 

DREW: Wendy Trimble. That's pro-choice. Actually, she's she's been married, but she's married now. But that's that was her name that she joined us. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. And what do you remember about those? Anything else you remember about those yellow footprints? 

DREW: I just said it was dark and my yellow with the yellow footprints. And I think my heart rate was like a thousand. I was really, really, really scared. I have never been yelled at like that before. Yelled at and called names and, you know, things. That's just it was just really hectic. I guess that's the biggest. Very, very hectic. Chaotic. You know, going from like a kind of like a quiet bus ride to to all of a sudden a lot of chaos. 

SPRAGUE: What were you said you got there early in the morning. What was your impression once the sun came up in South Carolina? 

DREW: I did. We didn't see the sun. Okay. We were in receiving. Eventually saw the sun, of course, But we were receiving until the next morning and we were up. They had to stay up so that we really didn't we didn't get to bed until that next night. But. I guess when we did finally get outside. I. You were you weren't allowed to look around. So I didn't I didn't even look for the sun. I think it was like I said, a lot of it was pretty hectic. But I guess that's the best way. You know, we were you weren't allowed to you couldn't look at people. They couldn't look at your drill instructors in the eyes. And you had to always have your head face forward. So. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. And you said they had separated the men and the women. Did you go to a platoon or detachment or a company of all women or how did that work? 

DREW: Yes. Yes. So all of us women, you know, lined up on the footprints. Again, I don't remember how many, but I think that was probably like 70 of us. So there must have been other women on the bus, but I don't really remember if there because I always sat with Wendy, you know, with her and I were always together. So, yeah, once we got into like the receiving building, that's when we were separated. And then we were like placed in like, we had this. We stood a lot. We stood a lot in lines because we at that point, we were getting, you know, I believe some medical exams like our eye exams, if I remember correctly, things like that. And then we also were given our our gear, so like our kameez and our boots and. So once you went in one line, you went into a next. And I'm sure around that same time we got our immunizations. And I just remember standing a lot in line and looking straight forward and not talking to anybody and not moving. Try not to. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. So then you get here at some point, you're done in processing. What do you remember from Basic that sticks out or boot camp? Sorry. What sticks out in your head? Some of the experiences. 

DREW: Oh. I loved, loved, loved drilling. And that was one of my favorite, favorite things. And really, you know, being in a platoon and marching, using you had your M-16 and drilling and having certain you know, I remember what they're called, you know, certain movements with a rifle. And I mean, that was just that was just outstanding. I love to hear the the footprints of our boots marching. I love that. I can still listen to cadences and hear that. And it's like it's just so it's really cool. It's very moving. So that was one of my favorite parts. Again, a lot of a lot of chaos I remember. I also try to keep in mind that everything we did in boot camp had a purpose because it really did, you know, all the chaos and all the anger and yelling, it was that there was a purpose for that. So, you know, for I know one of the things is, you know, once we were standing in formation, if anybody moved, we all we all got in trouble. We all had it. And it's called dig. So either if we were indoors, we had, you know, dig in the quarterback or if we were outdoors, we had sand pits, little samples specially made for us, and there were sand fleas over in pure silence. So, you know, the sand fleas would come in, you know, get in your nose and your hair and your ears and you and you wanted to scratch them and they bite you and you couldn't. But. Some people did. And so when we did and when they did, the whole platoon got punished. And we would have to either like, get out, get the sandpit and do sites, draw hops or which is jumping jacks, push ups, leg ups. Sometimes we had to dig a hole for the sand fully and bury the sand. Flea You know, that was really into the course if we could find the sand fully because you know, we've swatted it away. But we, we had to. Yeah. Because the drone sectors would say like you, you know, you don't, you don't kill mice and fleas on my island. So I Yeah. So we had to bury them if we did. So we, we we learned really, really quickly like very quickly to just be a team very, very quickly that if one person messed up the whole team got in trouble, which I you know, again I think about it when I knew at that time that just like would for you go to war one person messes up, the whole platoon could go die. So like all those things made sense to me. So that, I think, helped me through boot camp because I'm a person that likes things to make sense, like have reasons to to do things. So. Sure. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: So for the for the civilians. Tell, could you describe what a sand pit is? 

DREW: Oh, sure. It's. To me it basically looks like it's like a sandbox. It's a very big sandbox. You got to get like 60, 80 women or men in there. So it's just a really big box of sand and dirt and whatever else like it gets in there, you know, grass, whatever else flies in there. 

SPRAGUE: So do you have any drill instructors that names that you remember or people that stick out in your head is? 

DREW: Dis Yes. So my my senior drill instructor, I'm. Oh, my gosh. I'm just. I'm blanking on her name. And I. And I. I know. What? The other drill instructor is a staff sergeant. Mercado. Mercado. Mercado. That's after Mercado. She was. She was really, really instrumental. She was really a like a NASA short, but she was a smaller, very woman Marine. And. But she was tough. Definitely tough. Staff Sergeant Kaminski was my drill instructor's name. I knew it was she was very, very, very tough like. But. Also had, like I want to say, a caring part about her because. But she did. She did. But she did it like she wasn't a motherly figure at all. I wouldn't say that I won't go that far. But you just knew that she cared about you. Yeah, I. I guess I don't know how to explain it. You do? You mean when you got in trouble and she. When she was mad, like you knew she was mad, and she made us dig quite a lot. All the time. But she was a very good, very good marine. Like, I remember thinking, like, one day I want to be like her. I think I we think that most of the recruits would say that, like their senior drill instructor was someone that they wanted to amplify and be and be like. So because she was really a she was a bad ass. I mean, yeah, I think all drill instructors are because they actually do more than the recruits do. You know, they wake up before we do, they go to bed after we do, they have to pity like us, but more because they're yelling at us and, you know, screaming at us and like they're, you know, calling out cadences. And so definitely I give it a lot, a lot of respect for her drill instructors. 

SPRAGUE: And you mentioned, too, how many drill instructor you have total for that. 

DREW: And I feel like for me, I can't remember the other two, but I have four. 

SPRAGUE: Yes. Okay. And what was it like being exposed to different people from around the country? 

DREW: It was it was amazing. I really, really, really, really liked that. I loved that, you know, that people from Texas, from Florida, not just the Midwest and so like on the East Coast, But it was just it was really cool just to meet people, meet women. That's like really like me, you know, in the sense of like, you know, the reasons why they join the Marine Corps. And but they were not at all like me. It was it was really cool. I met some women who already had children, so I thought that was pretty amazing that they agreed to join the Marine Corps and then left their kids at home. And, you know, that's just those are some pretty tough women, too. I thought they were pretty amazing. 

SPRAGUE: So you said your only time that you were with the men was at the range. 

DREW: Correct? Yes, I was. Phase two, they call it. 

SPRAGUE: Do you do you happen to remember your training platoon or you testified? 

DREW: I don't. We were all belong to the fourth Battalion at Parris Island, but I don't remember what the names of the men who taught us how to fire the rifle. I mean, we still had our drill instructors there, of course, in the morning and in the afternoon and at night. But we had some time where we had to, you know, practice, shooting, practice. Like, you know, aiming was a big thing. We sat and aimed at this barrel for like hours at a time, ours and we had our M16 strapped around our bicep and had to snap in really straight and tight. The instructors would come by and then kind of push you, you know, so that they could see you. So that made sure that you were like, in that position, like really tight. So. Okay, Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Any bad experiences that you had there? 

DREW: Just missing home. I think that first week when we were in receiving, like I said it, that was, you know, you heard a lot of crying at night, you know? 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. Did your family come down for graduation? 

DREW: My mom did, yes, my mom did. Well, I have another story about boot camp. Okay. So I always they've always liked my hair. I've got I've always been made sure that my hair always looked nice. So when I went in the Marine Corps, I didn't want to have to put it up because we had to keep it at a certain length. We couldn't have it go past our collar. So before I went in, perms were still in style. So my mom gave me a perm and I had it cut, you know, just kind of like a like a bob so I could just wash my hair and not have to worry about it. And, you know, not just get up and go kind of thing. So it was I already had her picture taken for graduation. So it was shortly after that I got called up to the quarterback and my drill instructor told me that I need to have a haircut. And I was like, Oh. And I'm thinking, Of course I can't say no. I mean, I can't even look at her. I can't even you know, we weren't allowed to even to say the word I or me. So I just started. So we started off with this recruit. So I remember saying this recruit, you know, we'll go get this recruiter cut, something like that. And so they sent me off to the beauty salon, as they called her and. I wore glasses and usual contacts, but I wore glasses and they were called B.S. glasses. 

SPRAGUE: Tell us what that state stands for. 

DREW: Birth control, glasses and all that, meaning that you put these glasses on and no one's going to want to date you or be with you because you look awful, which is true. You do. You look. You look awful. And not only did they have birth control, the glasses, but I had to wear one of these things on the back to keep them up because they kept sliding off my face because we were always on the move and sweating and all that. So I got into the chair and these are civilians that cut my hair. I got into a chair and I remember just saying, just, you know, just trim it, please. And so I took off my glasses. I can't see. They didn't trim it. They cut it like awful. They cut it really, really, really short. And all these layers. And it it it looked it looked like it didn't look like me at all. So I put my glasses on. So I saw it and then marched back to the barracks and cried and cried and cried and cried. I remember being in the bath or the head, the bathroom with the other recruits in there trying to console me. It doesn't look that bad. And I'm like, I'm getting out. I'm getting out. We're graduating in a couple of weeks. Like, my hair's not going to grow back. I'm going to look awful when I get out. I have to go back home for a week and then go to my school. It's just so the jokes that Kominsky somehow caught wind that I was in the bath and crying. So they called me up into the quarterback again and, you know, starts yelling and screaming in my face if you don't cry and what's wrong with you? And you know, I remember just like between my not trying to cry, just saying like, you know, this recruit does not like this recruits haircut, you know. And of course they didn't care. They laughed at me and all of that kind of thing. And so I that was probably in the scheme of all things, that was one of the the bad things that happened to me is that they gave me a haircuts. And I don't know if they told them, the people in the beauty salon to like, just cut me. I cut my hair. I don't know. I, I don't I don't know why that happened. But that's probably the one of the biggest things that broke me. So but I mean, it, it ended up being okay. 

SPRAGUE: For the civilians on the line. What's a quarter deck? 

DREW: It's our barracks. It's in front of the barracks or some state so that our racks or beds for all lined up in the in the barracks and then the quarterback is like up front and it's right in front of the door. The drill instructor Hut! So that makes sense. It's like the barracks is a big room. A really, really big room. And then on in the front of the the the deer huts. And then there is the quarterback. And then our backs are all around that. So and that's where, like if we had to, you know, they had talked to us, we all would, you know, yell at us to get up on the quarterback. And so we all would get there and, you know, sit down if they anything to pass to us. If they got it was mail call. We were able to do that every night. We had to go up there just in our skivvies and they had to look at our body to make sure that I guess we weren't injured. So there was a little saying that we had to do. I don't remember what the saying was, but like, you know, this recruit is free of I don't remember. I wish I remembered maybe somebody, maybe I'll find out what we remember, what we said. But, you know, I had to turn around to make sure that they looked at us and made sure that we weren't injured or. Or scarred or. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: So what was that like, referring to yourself in the third person? 

DREW: That was it was very odd. It was very odd in the beginning. Then it became second nature and not having to look at somebody in the eye that was, you know, gives you when you talk to people, you look at them in the eye. And so that was hard at first to but became second nature. And the the time we got out of boot camp, it was like hard to remember that we didn't have to do that anymore and that you can look at somebody in the eye and you could call yourself I or me, you know? Yeah, that was that was it was definitely a transition. 

SPRAGUE: Mm hmm. Tell me about your graduation and becoming a marine. 

DREW: That was awesome. Just awesome. So I was at an event here in Waukesha on Memorial Day, and they played some hymns. I mean, not the Marine Corps, him, but just the orchestra was playing some music. And I remember thinking like they played that like a loop, you know, and our graduation day and we marched to that. And it was it was outstanding. I mean, I don't even, I guess, don't even have words. I have the actual DVD of that DVD, the tape, the VHS tape from that I'm that old that I was able to make into a DVD. But it was it was it was really outstanding that we did. To actually graduate with men. So when we practiced, we practice with men, but we did. We could look at them. If we did march past them, we would all be told like eyes right or eyes left. So we couldn't look at that platoon. So, yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Hold on a moment. So when you marched past a male or male platoon, you had to do eyes left, right, right, right. 

DREW: Yes. So that you didn't so you couldn't look at them. So we all were looking straight ahead, of course, marching. But if we like coming from the chow hall or coming from something, if another if a male platoon was coming towards us, we'd have to look to the right. So. Oh, yeah, yeah, it was. And it's in. It's funny, you know, even then I was thinking, like, I really don't even care to look at these men like you. I mean, I just. There was this too much going on. So even to look, to even want to look at them and they look to a lot of them, they all look the same. We all look the same. So it was not like we could have, like, checked them out and dated them. I mean, I wouldn't even know how to do that. So in a way, it was kind of funny that we all had to look to the to the right, but none of us were really even interested to look at them at that time. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. What what about what availability did you have of free time? 

DREW: Um, we had four hours on Sunday morning of free time, so a lot of us went to church just to get, I should say this, but we did to get out of the barracks, just to get to get somewhere other than because I. You could stay in the barracks, you know. And of course we'd like shine our boots, clean our weapon. And we had things we needed to do, write letters. But a lot of us went to church just to to get out and to actually, like, sit somewhere where you weren't going to get yelled at and you could kind of look around at people. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. So tell me a little bit about another Marine explained this to me that when you graduate boot, you can wear the the eagle for Eagle. 

DREW: An eagle of an anchor. Yes, absolutely. That was yeah, that was amazing as well. And we were the first platoon to graduate in our dress blues. I don't do that anymore. I don't know when they stopped, but I got expensive. But that was really cool to like, actually, you know, get I there's kind of kind some controversy because you should really you know, the old school is all the old school thought is like you should earn them by like being guide or buying them or things like that. But I thought it was pretty cool that we earned them, you know, going into boot camp. So but yeah, once we got our eagle of an anchor, that was, that was amazing to have that in our hand and yeah. And be able to wear that. I mean there's definitely nothing that would be it's just so hard to explain what that feeling is. It's like gotten to that point, like kind of feel like you were kind of bad as yourself. You know, you kind of I kind of give myself permission to be like, all right, I'm a bad ass woman. I did. I did do something that a lot of women can't do or wouldn't do, So. Yeah, Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. So you mentioned you went on leave after boot. 

DREW: Correct? Yes. Yes. So my mom was at my graduation. She flew in. She didn't recognize me, of course, when we were information, she didn't know where I was. And then when she did, I saw her the night before because we did get a few hours to go shopping and stuff like that the night before. And I think I remember she took me to Burger King because I really wanted Burger King. So that was my first meal, like the first fast food restaurant. If we went to Burger King and got to spend a little bit time with her and then and then the next day, that's when she didn't recognize me information. But we did. You know, once we graduated, we were on a tight schedule, so I had to go back to the barracks, get my get my gear, get my sea bag. And then she she rented a car. So then we started driving and I remember it just like looking around. And I was like, wow, we actually are on the island. I'm like, Look at these trees. And I was just you're just commenting about how beautiful this island was. And remember my mom saying, like, you've been here for three months, Didn't you know that? And I was like, No, no, I really you're not allowed to look around. I mean, you were every time everywhere you marched, you looked forward. You didn't look around at things. I didn't know that, you know, they had these pretty trees over here. And there's this this is this water. And so she really laughed at that. She thought that was pretty funny. But I had no idea of where I was for for three months. And then we got to the airport and again, we were like rushing to get through. And my feet had horrible blisters. They all blistered up from the camp, of course, and I was wearing heels that give you you have to wear heels with your dress blues, patent leather. And they just hurt. And they were bleeding. And so we were walking and my mom said, well, just take your shoes off and let's go. And I was like. All mom like you can not could not wear not wear your uniform without your shoes. And of course, as you know, this airport had all, you know, recruits coming in. But and also all these Marines coming in and out where the So I was like, no, no, no, no, no. I have to wear. So I just you just grin and bear it and suck it up, you know, that's just kind of what you do. So but she was amazed, too. She was like, really? Like, they won't. I'm like, No, you can't do that. So she learned a lot of, I think, things that I went through and was not. She didn't understand a whole lot. But but yeah, So they went home. I slept a lot. I slept, I think probably 12 hours and eight, eight good food. Went to McDonald's. I remember that. That's one place I wanted to go to. But yeah, I spent a week at home and then I had my orders were 229 Palms or my school. 

SPRAGUE: What does the court call that? Schooling. 

DREW: That's MLS. 

SPRAGUE: MLS School. 

DREW: Military, Occupational specialty or your A A1. A school. A school is a school. 

SPRAGUE: The Navy calls it a school. 

DREW: Yeah, I think. Okay. Yeah. I don't I think it's all different now. But yeah. Was there any. 

SPRAGUE: School at the time? 

DREW: That's at the time, yes, at the time. Not now. 

SPRAGUE: So curiosity, what were you able to choose your MLS before getting in? 

DREW: No, I was guaranteed administration, which I really didn't know what that was. I figured admin being like, I know I get a desk or like I don't. Yeah, that's kind of what I thought. I didn't really care at the time. Yeah, I didn't really didn't. So that's what as my, my recruit told me, that's what I was guaranteed. So but I was not behind a desk at all. 

SPRAGUE: So then how did you become a field communication operator? 

DREW: That was, that was assigned to me that 2542 field communication operator And then we or when I got over to 20 Palms, we were actually told that we were one of the first women allowed into that MLS. They it was mostly it was all males because we were on the field a lot, most of the time, actually all the time. And they didn't, you know, they didn't have accommodations for women. But the Marine court that we're going to start, I guess, adding women to this, to this position, to this job. So that's what we did. 

SPRAGUE: What was that like being the first women? 

DREW: At the time, I didn't really think much of it. I don't know why. I just thought of all right, But looking back, I was like, that's like a kind of cool, you know, kind of a trend center center, I guess, just knowing that they, you know, we started, you know, that we were the first ones to to go through that that training. So it was pretty cool. 

SPRAGUE: And what was the school itself like? 

DREW: Um, it was a lot of like decoding. Now, we didn't have, like we had computers back then, but like this, like kind of setting the stage. These computers were like huge, like big, like, we're in the library. So I kind of like with those racks of books, like, that's how big they were. They were really, really, really, really big. So we, we did a lot of stuff over the, over the we talking a lot over the radio. So when we did go out in the field, we had the wire dogs and the radio men that were like they kind of like supported us. They ran our wire. Sure, we had radio connection, things like that. So. 

SPRAGUE: So what what specifically does a field communication operator do if you've got people that run the wire and operate the radios? 

DREW: So yeah, so we we operate the radios too, but we also, you know, we're able to get through these computers. We had we were all in a trailer when we were out in the field so that the trailer would be there. Of course, kind of like, did that mean over in Okinawa it was super hot. So but our trailer had to be air conditioned because we had the the computer. So feel bad for the radio dogs and the Wire guys because they didn't have that. So we stayed and we we did shift work usually 12 hours on 12 hours off and we were communicating typically back from our base or if we were headed like an operation where another comm center was being built in the field communicating with them. And and just kind of, you know, I guess just pretending like we were, you know, at war and like how we would communicate and giving commands and things like that. 

SPRAGUE: Anything. What other skills did you learn at the at the school? 

DREW: Uh, we learned like the I don't remember what it's called, but it was like that. Not the, not the alphabet, like our military alphabet, but like another alphabet for specifically for like the radio and messages. And you're kind of, kind of like how to talk on the radio too, to each other. I don't remember all that I was, but that's what I remember having to do, to do a lot of those things. And we went to take a test at the end and things like that. 

SPRAGUE: And how long was at school? 

DREW: So I was just and I knew. You going to ask that. I want to say it was four months. Okay. Yeah, I wasn't that long. I mean, a lot of people had longer schools, but. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Did you think that the training at your school prepared you for what you saw when you got here like that? 

DREW: No, I don't think so. I don't really think I knew what to expect when I got over to Okinawa. So, you know, I think everything seemed to work in a school, like, ah, the computers work, the radios worked, everything worked. And then when you actually out in the field, nothing worked. We never got any good equipment, so. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. Okay. So after you left a school, did you have other training or did you go directly to your first unit? 

DREW: No, I got two. I went I was able to take a week for ten days of leave to come back home. So I did that and. And then got ready for to leave for Okinawa. They gave you your orders, obviously, before you before you left. But you did get a wish list. You're able to write down like the top three locations that you'd want to be stationed at. And mine was Okinawa. So everybody went to Okinawa, it seemed like, from my school. So I don't think the wish list really mattered. I don't think they really care what you really wanted to go where you want to go. They just put you where you need to go and they need you. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. Yeah, so is. I've heard Marines tell me that it's what the Marine Corps needs you to do versus. 

DREW: Yes. Yes. As a I will always remember this being told, I think even in boot camps or any boot camp, that if you if the Marine Corps wanted you to be married, they would have issued you a spouse. So that was the the. Yeah. Or anything. If they wanted you to have it, they would issue it to you. If they don't issue to you, then you don't. You don't need it and they don't want you to have it. So. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. 

DREW: Yeah, absolutely true. 

SPRAGUE: So you got Okinawa, though. You got what you want. 

DREW: I got what I wanted. But I don't think that my wish list helped. I think they just put me over there. 

SPRAGUE: Do you? Any particular reasons why you preferred Okinawa? 

DREW: I really wanted to get out. I mean, like I said before, I wanted to go to Wisconsin. Now I saw this opportunity to actually get out of the United States, and I thought that would really be cool to go to another country, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. So tell me about arriving in Okinawa and getting there and what that was like. 

DREW: Luckily for me, I had Wendy with me, so it never really I don't think it ever happens that you're going in as a buddy system is what they call it, and that person goes with you The whole four years, that never really happens. But for this time it did. I don't know, because names were similar. You know, the salmon are really the same OS but we were able to not only go over there together, but we were able to live together in the barracks. The women had like a little portion of the of the barracks and we had separate rooms that separate rooms we sort of bunk together. But so it was nicer with some of the guys had like 6 or 8 people to a room. It was just her and I. So I remember flying too well. We flew an airline like a commercial flight and the back then you could smoke. So I remember like we smoked, he smoked all the airlines. It was incredible. You could drink on the airlines. We I tried all these, you know, like Japanese beer and we just we drank and smoke on the way there, so. And slept. We landed in mainland Japan. And I remember thinking like, okay, I want to now I want to call my mom. Right, Right. And so I was looking around and they had these big green phones and I it was all everything was written in Japanese. I had no idea what I could do. I couldn't call my mom. So I just. And that mean looking nowadays like you can you could call so easily back then, you know, I just I was like, all right, I guess I can't call my mom. So then we got to Okinawa and then we were, you know, led to our barracks. 

SPRAGUE: So. And you were stationed where? On Okinawa. 

DREW: Camp. 

SPRAGUE: Kinzer And where is camp? Kinzer I know. 

DREW: It's the southernmost camp. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. 

DREW: Yeah. If you looking at the map and kids, it's right next to Camp Foster So camp kids are in camp. Foster Those were kind of the good places to be. Of course, Camp Kadena being the Air Force base was the best place to be, but we didn't get to go there. We only would go to their chow halls when we could. 

SPRAGUE: And why would you go to their chow halls? 

DREW: Because they had the best food ever. They had civilians cooking and you could eat as much as you want. And then when you were done, you could leave your trays at the table. You didn't have to didn't have to put them in the in the galley. 

SPRAGUE: So that must have been an Air Force thing. 

DREW: That was it. Yes. Oh, yeah, Air Force. And then they always had the best equipment and the you know, they had like all these oh, like, you know, we would have like probably like juice and milk and they would have like soda and you know, they would have quite an array of, of things to eat and drink. So when I became a Humvee driver, that's where I would always take my my friends. 

SPRAGUE: That I saw To my second. One of my other questions I was thinking about here, did you have a Japanese driver's license? 

DREW: I did, and I don't have it anymore. I lost it. I had a Japanese driver's license and then my my Humvee driver's license. Yes. Because I have got a Humvee school. So when we finally got to where because we were we were stuck in supply for the first four months or three months because they needed people to to go to supply. So a lot of us were kind of I forget the word they call it snowbirds. No, no. Just like we're you, you're not you're not attached yet to your unit, but you're like not to what you want, but like, you were kind of loaned out to, to this other MLA. So I did supply and anybody who worked in supply there those years. I really feel for them. That was an awful, awful job and boring and hot. And you got yelled at a lot by mostly by officers who like what they're checking out and they don't have all their gear. And you had, you know, say, sir, I need your you know, And they were like, who are you? Because I went over as a private. So I was, yeah. So getting yelled at. And then I'd have to go talk to them, you know, my supervisor. And then. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: So because they didn't have the equipment, they were issued and they were supposed to be returning to you. 

DREW: Right, Right. Yes. Like didn't have their canteen or they didn't have, you know, and things that they could have just bought at the packs and then returned. But they they didn't want to. So. I know. 

SPRAGUE: So you were at camp Kinzer And you were with the third? 

DREW: FS Yes. As. 

SPRAGUE: SG And what does that stand for? Oh. 

DREW: I don't. And it's a support group. The last two. 

SPRAGUE: Okay, Gotcha. 

DREW: Feel something? Support group. Okay. I looked it up recently because I had forgotten. 

SPRAGUE: But no worries. Okay. At the end of the world and you were in Okie from about when to about when. 

DREW: Okay. So 89. I graduated in 90. I left in 90 and came back in 91 at late because they had put a freeze on all of our orders because Desert Storm, Desert Shield Start had happened. So they just kind of like they didn't want anybody to go anywhere. So. 

SPRAGUE: And how with Desert Storm Desert Shield occurring while you were in Okinawa, could you expand a little bit more on how that affected you? Yeah. 

DREW: I was I was a little scared, definitely. I remember at that point I could call home and get a calling card. So those people who remember calling cards and had to go into kind of a booth and call her and my mom was she was like, I know you're going. You're not telling me. I mean, she really she thought I was gone. And I'm like, I'm not going, Mom. Only a few people from my platoon was going. They didn't really need, you know, field communications. It was, you know, a lot of air. So I tried to explain, you know, all of what I what I knew. And, you know, still I was 19, still didn't comprehend all of that. I was supposed to go to Korea and for they did it every year. And I can't remember. We didn't get to go. Team spirit. To Spirit. Thank you. Yes. Oh, you're good. Team spirit. We didn't get to go. We first we're going to go. And I told my mom that we were going and she was like, I thought I was lying and saying, You're lying. You're going over to the golf. You're not going. I'm like, seriously going to Korea. And then they they they canceled team spirit. I just because of the what was going on. And I don't think they wanted any more operations going on at the time. So I guess just in case we were called up is what we were told we had to be ready. Be ready. So and we were I remember, you know, our staff sergeant, Sergeant Fowler, he was our platoon staff sergeant. And he he kind of he led us everywhere. And he really made sure that we were ready and talked to us about if we went over there. You know, I don't think he ever was in a war, probably. I don't think so. You know, just to kind of like what he thought we were should expect. And so, like I said, only a few like 2 or 3 guys. Went over there. 

SPRAGUE: So it's a pretty select group. 

DREW: It was. Yes. Yes. And and knowing that when they came back, they they were always in the rear. They said they didn't they didn't really see anything. They were more in the rear. 

SPRAGUE: So any other involvement that you had with Desert Storm? Desert Shield? Oh, I do not know. 

DREW: That was it. I mean. Yeah, I mean, it was it was obviously quick. Yeah. You know, Yeah, a little quicker than we expected. So. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. Was your tour when you went to Okinawa, was that an unaccompanied tour or. 

DREW: Yes, Unaccompanied, yes. 

SPRAGUE: So did you get mature leave or not? Did you take it or. Oh. 

DREW: No, we weren't offered it. No, no, no. When I was there, the barracks had one phone and that was, you know, where you everyone came in and the duty. 

SPRAGUE: Or duty officer. 

DREW: Officer Yes. The duty officer was duty NCO. Yes, I think you was. And so they had a phone and I don't remember how my mom got through, but she got through to that phone to tell me that her dad died. So I remember thinking like, I was like mom. And he he had passed like 3 or 4 weeks after. Like she called me 3 or 4 weeks after he died. So and I explained I was like, Mom, you like I could have been home for that, you know, I really wanted to. But she was like, I didn't know. And so that's yeah, so that was kind of a bummer. We I really would have wanted to been there for that. So And other than that, no, we could have taken hops I guess to like different countries but we, we never did. I always stayed on base. Yeah. Or on to Okinawa life. 

SPRAGUE: So you mentioned regarding the telephones and long distance you also had the time differential between. 

DREW: Yes, yes. Yeah. Very very true. I still have on my phone the the weather and time of Okinawa. I like to do I always go I remember like, oh yeah, this is monsoon season or I remember what I did during, you know, we go outside and during the monsoon and try to fly. I mean, we just really did dumb things, stupid things. So, you know, what. 

SPRAGUE: Were some of those dumb or stupid things. 

DREW: We So when you and I and this other female I remember her name though were we used to we used to lay out in the sun like we'd go on top of the the barracks, you know, the the rooftop because we wanted privacy. So that was on base. We could find privacy. So we would do that. When it was monsoon season, we were all ordered to stay in our barracks so we would. I didn't do this often. I just watched a lot. But people would take their their duty, which we call it. Our duty is the the poncho liner that you get issued. We take our poncho liner out onto the hill behind us and try to, like, get the wind to, like, fly us, you know, like kind of like run down the hill and try to have the when pick it up and like, fly us. And of course, it was raining to and it was just really dumb things. I don't know why we thought that was cool, but we did cool. 

SPRAGUE: Like a hand glider. 

DREW: Kind of like a hang glider. Yes, exactly. So and none of I mean, thankfully, none of us got hurt and none of us got in trouble because if we would have, we really would have gotten in a lot of trouble for that. 

SPRAGUE: What was your impression of the monsoon? 

DREW: I loved it. I thought it was just like it was great. I loved the rain. It sometimes it was it made me really scared because are nervous because like, you couldn't even see outside. I mean, literally all you saw was just water gushing at you. So it was it was an interesting time of my life. So it was the the sandstorms in Tiny palms that was those hurt. If you're outside trying to get in the sand, just like which is whip like it. I never felt sand hurting you but it does. Wow. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: So while you are in Okinawa, what when you deployed with the unit, what what were you setting up for? You mentioned it a little bit earlier, but what was a typical deployment or training exercise that unit. 

DREW: So we would load up all of our gear, all of our radios, computers that we could into our at the Humvees. And Wendy and I were we both were I don't know why we were chosen, but our staff sergeant, they needed two Humvee drivers from our platoon. So he went in either two, two Humvees. Cool. So I did that one. And after that one, that was a lot of fun, too, and did some crazy things there, but while we were in school. So we just load up all of our gear. I got into one Humvee and when he got into another and we just drove, the island is only 60 miles long, so I couldn't drive a lot, but just drove to. As a kid, Blue Lake, Blue. And I was on the lake. Something blue over in Okinawa. That was where we set up a lot. There was. There was well, there's water everywhere, but it was close to the water. So then we would set up our we had one huge tent for us. Now, the radio dogs, they had their own tents and the wire dogs had their own tents. And there was no women in those platoons. But we just had one big tent for the operators and just we all set up our racks there, our cots, and that's where we would sleep. So and we were at shift work. And so, you know, you could be something sleeping during the day or sleeping at night and people were coming and going and things like that. So and we had our brought our memories and, and yeah. 

SPRAGUE: So you had mentioned earlier working out of a van when you were working, I guess. 

DREW: Like the running of a trailer. Yeah. So we got to go into the trailer, right? 

SPRAGUE: So that trailer, how was it making comms with the next station? 

DREW: It was either like a said back on base that we were connecting with. There was always a few people left on base to communicate with, and then other camps would connect with us to, like Camp Hanson or Camp Schwab. I don't ever remember, like connect communicating with anybody overseas. If we did, I was like oblivious to that. 

SPRAGUE: And what were those connections? Were they wireline or were they radio or were they? Or if you happen to remember. 

DREW: I mean, I would say mostly wire because we were there was like I remember this wire like their wire dogs would have to scoot up the the poles and the trees, you know, and that's something I would never, ever want to do. Thank goodness I didn't have to do that. But, you know, and wire everything. So it was a lot of it was a lot of wire. Okay. Yeah, That's all I remember. Like watching them like this look like they just climbed really, really fast up those poles. And I remember seeing that and thinking like, wow, that they're that's a that's a job that I would never want to do is be that I'm afraid of heights. So I, I not be able to do that. 

SPRAGUE: So you're in the in the comms van. Is there like a switchboard in there or. 

DREW: Yes, yes, there's a switchboard. Like I said, I remember a lot of a lot of lights, A lot of computers. A lot of. Yeah. Kind of buttons to push. You know, I was a blower on the you know, I was I think at that point, maybe probably. A lance corporal. So just kind of always being told what to do and what to do. Yeah. So like the higher ranks kind of like would do more of the, the trouble for troubleshooting if things were down a lot of times and things were down. I mean, that was, I remember just a lot of that equipment, I guess I was always old and things were always down. So we're always trying to they were trying to fix and troubleshoot, like what's what's going on and, you know, things like that. So. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. What did you do on your time off on Okinawa? 

DREW: Drank and went out and shopped. Yeah. Yeah, I shopped a lot. I remember my dad telling me that this year that I'm not on a world shopping tour because I love to shop. And. And yeah, I bought a lot of things from Okinawa and sent it home. I mean, I spent a lot of money, I think sending things home to to my family. You anything that and I have some of it now. They kept some of it so that was nice that they did that and buy a lot for me. But I bought a lot for my family. Hmm. 

SPRAGUE: Any particular things you remember shopping for on Okinawa. 

DREW: That come up? Kimonos Those are really popular. And my mom wanted one and my sister wanted one. I you know, I got some, like, Marine Corps shirts and stuff I sent back, but. So your kimono. And then my mom wanted to have. One of those called not a a fan like a but a really, really big fan. Those are really popular. Back then it was a fan. Of course, buying stereos was a really popular thing in Okinawa. And like, I got a mink blanket. It's not really mink, but it's a really thick blanket that we bought out in town. Trying to think of. 

SPRAGUE: Any jewels or gemstones that you bought over there. 

DREW: You know, I really wasn't into. Yeah, I did jewelry back then. I bought a TV. I bought a vacuum cleaner. That stupid. I mean, really, it's kind of funny that I don't know why I bought a vacuum cleaner, but I. I always thought that things were cheaper in Okinawa to buy what you might need now. For when? I bought satin sheets. Because we were lucky. Well, tonight we had a room that had two racks, like two bunk beds. And, you know, so the top and the bottom. So we always we made our, you know, our official rack on the top, you know, like what is, you know, mandated and the white sheets and the green blanket and all that and our pillow. And then we always kept those ready. And then we slept on the bottom rack. You know, her bottom like my bottom, right. And we had our water satin sheets and our mink blanket and things like that. So every morning we would have to just collect everything and then put it in our wall locker. So we that was I mean, that was one of the nice things that because there wasn't many of us, we were able to have like more room where the guys, they had to sleep on their white sheets there which they probably didn't care. But when they and I wanted like something more homey to sleep, I think. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: So what what are some of the other experiences you remember from the third of us? She. Um. 

DREW: I remember where bears were out by the sea. And I remember that that was beautiful. I really wish I had pictures. I had pictures, but I don't know where they are. They got lost or. But the picture I remember that was just beautiful. The water definitely the water was really beautiful. And like, I never did scuba diving. And I wish that probably because you could have gotten certified, but I never did. Didn't do anything like that. But I remember walking into the water and that was amazing. Definitely. I remember love spending yen. I still have some yen, but I go to the like the ATM machine and can get yen versus American dollars because it was more fun to spend yen out there on the community. I loved being out outside the gates. That was fun. It was just a yeah, I think a lot about did buy a lot of candy, too, and sent that home because they just had such unusual candy and sodas and, you know, just just things like that that you would never find. I I'm here. 

SPRAGUE: So do you happen to remember the name of the town outside of the gate? 

DREW: Well, there's a gate. There's a gate, too. Isn't that is that. Oh, my memory is going. And that was right outside camp. Kadena Gate two st. I think that's what it was called. Of course I remember. I mean, I loved the food. I loved Okinawa. I loved Yaki soba. That's to die for. And nobody makes it like Okinawa. I've tried. I've really, really tried, tried recipes, tried buying it from restaurants and it just it it doesn't there McDonald's wasn't all that good. I didn't really care for it. Yeah I tried that and it wasn't good. There was a lot of like, I remember like going in, you know, the other restaurants were just like on old streets. And I mean, I think now I've seen pictures like on Facebook of people taking pictures of like Okinawa and it looks completely different. It looks actually like more minor modernized or up to date. But a lot of cats were like running around. And so, like the you know, the myth was like whatever you were eating, you know, you're here actually, the meat was the cat and that like but I don't know if it's true or not. I like to think it's not that I'd never eat cat over there, but or dog. But there always seem to be like just wild dogs that wild but just dogs and cats just running around. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Any experiences with foreign nationals? The Japanese? 

DREW: Yeah, I knew that they. You know, when we got over there, we had to go through a training, you know, And I knew that they didn't really like us on their island. I think we was making like. Like maybe, like, hate. Like they didn't like us, but they liked that we help their economy is kind of what I was told. I know that the honcho drivers were that was cool to call for Honcho, which was their cab. 

SPRAGUE: What's a honcho. 

DREW: Is it was like their cab, the taxicab, and those were always decked out in like beads. And I don't know, I mean, what you said on all these beads and they had like scarves in there. And it was it was just interesting. But that's that was our transportation. It's a lot of us don't have a vehicle. So. 

SPRAGUE: Did you ever go down to Lahore or anywhere, Any particular. 

DREW: I. Sure, I did. But I don't I don't. Have any any specific memory. Yeah, we would I would go like we're kind of well, I didn't go everywhere because there are some places that that I did I did not want to go that I know, like a lot of other male Marines would go. So I didn't I didn't I didn't I didn't find that, like, interesting. So but I would if anyone wanted to go out into the into the streets, you know, just to go shopping, like I said, or out to eat or. Yeah, I was always game for that. 

SPRAGUE: So anything else about Okinawa you'd like to share? 

DREW: Trying to think. I don't. I think you covered it. Yeah, it was. It was an experience that I'm so glad that I was able to. To be a part of. Definitely. And then one day, I'd love to go back. I've heard and read that there's, like, a tourist part of Okinawa now. I know, right? I don't know if I'd want to drive. The transition back to the United States was difficult. For the driving part, I stayed. Can you imagine? So you can do a lot on the wrong side of this street? Because it was I mean, it was confusing because I would drive the Humvee and we had the, you know, the Humvees, American vehicles. We had to drive to me on the wrong side of the street. But then when I because I did have a car for a short period of time, somebody gave me their car to just have why they don't remember where they did it city wide or they would just for a short couple of months. So I had a Okinawa or Japanese car. So the, the, you know, the driver's side was on the other side. So that so like I always had to like remind myself like what car was in and then what side of the street I needed to be on. So at the time, I, you know, it was confusing cause I drove both the American and Okinawa cars both on the wrong side of the street and then coming back. I did drive a few times on the wrong side of the street. My mom was with me. She's like, You're driving on the wrong side of the street. I'm like, Oh, yeah, sorry. I didn't have any accidents, though. Well, that's good. That's a good thing. Yes. 

SPRAGUE: So you come out of okay, and you come back to the States and where do you wind up? 

DREW: Come on. I think I had another ten days of leave back here with my mom and family. And my orders were to headquarters, Marine Corps in Washington, D.C.. That was a pretty I didn't know what a big deal that was until I got there that it was it's it's the headquarters. So it's like all brass, meaning all officers. I was still a lance corporal by the time I got there. I got my corporal when I was there. But you had to look like top notch. Your uniform had to be top notch. You were you know, you're right by the eighth and I. Right. By all the monuments. I mean, it was. It was a really, really cool docking station. Yeah, it was. I have to say, like, that duty station was probably I don't know how I put it, but like, we weren't issued an M-16, so that that was weird. But we weren't issued because I didn't have an armory and they had a pool on base. So that was not that does not happen in the Marine Corps where you get a swimming pool on base and there was outstanding. 

SPRAGUE: And where what base was that? 

DREW: Henderson Hall. Anderson Hall. Yeah. I was told don't know if this is really true. Had ever done research, but they used to see women all state all women stated that base because it was more of a that's where I guess more the admin came in to play. Yeah so that's probably that I could see that, especially in the, oh, you know, beginning of Marine Corps Times or once they started letting women in. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: And that was the headquarters. Headquarters battalion maybe. 

DREW: Yes. Headquarters Battalion. Yes. Headquarters. Battalion headquarters. Marine Corps. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. And could have that been maybe Alpha Company? 

DREW: I believe it was, yes. Okay. I should look at my orders. I saved everything because I thought maybe one day I'd want to remember where I lived. 

SPRAGUE: Well, the records we have show Alpha Company headquarters, Battalion headquarters, Marine Corps of OC, Washington, DC. 

DREW: Absolutely. 

SPRAGUE: So that's right. If it's not, then we figure it out. Yeah. 

DREW: Yeah, I'm sure it is. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. Okay, so and then you said that you and I forgive me for not knowing where Henderson Hall is, but then you worked in the annex at the Pentagon. 

DREW: The Navy annex, which was really, really close. It was within walking distance. And then the Pentagon, which was a little further. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. So more time at the Navy. 

DREW: Yes. Yes, More time at the Navy annex where they needed help in their communication center. Then that's when we would go over to the Pentagon. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. Got it. And you were a field communications operator there? 

DREW: Well, at that point, more just communications. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. Yeah, I. 

DREW: Worked in the com center. 

SPRAGUE: Com center. And what does a comp center do. 

DREW: Though, that sends and receives messages from unclassified all the way to top secret. So we had I think it I think we have four so we kind of split up in four four teams here. Each team had like a staff sergeant or sergeant and then they had a corporal and then kind of like the little workers, you know, all the lance corporals, they did all the work. So a lot of times we had messages came and went all the time in Washington, in DC for all the way from like friendly fire, you know, kind of still from the Gulf War, A lot of friendly fire messages we received. 

SPRAGUE: And how are these messages passed from one thing to another. 

DREW: That was that was out like, again, we we had this one room full of like just computers, huge, huge computers. And they were sent through to our was like, it doesn't look like a laptop for for sure. It was just a we each had this huge computer in front of us that the messages would come through. And if they were like top secret of their immediate, they would like they would flash on the screen a lot of times. Then if one of those messages came through, we'd have to print it off and then run it over to like the commandant's office or 1 or 2, you know, the posse, which I don't remember what that stood for. It would they were near immediate messages that we had to like, pass on when we went. These people were in the Navy Annex. So we would go to like to where they were. And then there were a lot of routine messages, a lot of a lot of like orders. You know, this person's going here, this person's going to go here, and those would just get printed off. And it's called maps. I don't know what the acronym stands for, but that was another huge room with a huge machine that just printed copies of all these messages that came through. And then we would have to, like, staple them together. God, that was awful. And then put them in, like, people's bins. So then Monday morning came, they would pick up their messages and we. 

SPRAGUE: Had a map spelled m, a p p. 

DREW: S, I think it was two peas. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what that was. I don't remember what it stands for. So a lot. So then we had where our shift work was eight hours on, 24 hours off. And then and the weekends we worked every other weekend, 12 hours and 12 hours off. I remember that. That was that was a brutal shift work. I mean, you know, eight hours on, 24 hours off wasn't bad, but the weekends got a little tough. But. 

SPRAGUE: And you operated the. Sounds like a computer term. 

DREW: Yeah. So but we also got messages from from everybody and had everybody in the Navy annex, all the departments. There was a lot of Navy folks there, too. So they would drop off messages like on this little I guess maybe it was a floppy or something and it was a floppy disk, but it was something similar to that. And then we put it in our machine and then the machine would like read it and but it couldn't really read everything. So then you had to go and correct it and you'd have to like it was very mundane, very monotonous. It was just, it was awful. So like second shifts had sent most of the messages because the first shift was usually people like coming in and dropping off messages or picking up their messages or wanted to go ask to go on microfiche. I guess it was called like they had way back and like messages that were sent way long ago. And then you had to put this black. Like a black film, almost like in a machine. And you had to scroll and scroll and look for this message. And if they needed a copy of you to print a copy of it, and then the third would work, third shift. It was it wasn't it wasn't as busy. We were we would send out all the messages that that maybe second shift did send out. So and it got to a point where you didn't even care what the messages said. I mean, you really did it. You're just trying to get there because we would just have like stacks of these things that we had to send out. So. 

SPRAGUE: So it sounds like a lot of manual routing. 

DREW: There was. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It was perfect word. Yeah, it was manual routing. Yeah. Huh. And then we would, you know, send it to, you know, the Comm center, you know, out in camp. Kinzer I mean, that was cool. And I was like, Oh, yeah, that's where I just came from. We're sending it to Camp kids or things like that. But I guess a lot of orders. I remember seeing a lot of a lot of people's orders, of course, like messages about like people got in trouble, you know, if they had like a, you know, court martial or something, you know, that was kind of cool to to like, see those. But we really saw you didn't really see because unless you read every single one of them, we didn't really care at that point, you know? 

SPRAGUE: So what was your clearance? So I had to. 

DREW: Get a top secret clearance. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah, right. So what was that like? 

DREW: That was really cool. That was, you know, I didn't have any I didn't think I would. I knew what I mean. They did a background check. They did everything. I talked to the FBI. I had to be interviewed and all that and, you know, kind of sign your life away that, you know, if you do know something classified, you can, you know, I guess at that age, too, at 1920, you just kind of thought you were like a bad ass. Like, yeah, you know, tough, but not really knowing, like, what all that really means. And. Yeah, yeah, I thought it was cool. 

SPRAGUE: Yeah. What were some of the. Not the if they're classified, we don't need to know them. But what were, what were some of the unique messages. One or 2 or 3 that you that really stick out. 

DREW: In your head. I think they're one of the big ones are the friendly fire that I didn't realize how many people I got hurt or or died during. I mean, you know, the Gulf War was over, but people were still there getting killed. At least that's what I remember, that, you know, friendly fire or things were you know, things were still being shot at, you know, whether that be a person or, you know, a camp or, you know, just something that they thought was there and really wasn't there. So that that or that that stuck out in my mind. Definitely the like the friendly fire that because I was kind of like, well, this should be over with. Like they're like, I didn't think we were, you know, none of us should even be over there anymore, you know. So that's. 

SPRAGUE: How did that affect you? Did did it affect you? 

DREW: It did. It affected me that like kind of it made it more real, you know, even more real than it was real. And I think that, you know, I just thought about like the families that maybe, you know, their loved one didn't come home or that their loved one got injured or, you know, and because of friendly fire, just not knowing who was over there, it was actually us. And yeah. So and whether that's like I said, there's always came even if somebody got hurt or injured or nothing happened they still. Had to send that message, had to report it, and there was still an incident that they had to report and we would get those messages. And those are the ones that really came in like the immediate like, you know, and just needs to go to the cabinet. So I never got to officially meet the cabinet in the Marine Corps. But like, I went to his office a lot. So again, that was like, you know, at age 20, you're like, you know, it's pretty cool to be able to to do that. 

SPRAGUE: So later in that tour, you eventually do become a corporal. 

DREW: I do, yes. 

SPRAGUE: Tell me about being a corporal in the Marine Corps. 

DREW: I think it was like I only had like six months left. So I was eight months. I really didn't get to, like, feel the whole corporal thing. Like they think a lot of people got to feel. 

SPRAGUE: And that's different than the corporal role in the Corps. 

DREW: That's right. Because you now you're like you're you're you guys in charge, right? You have some you have some clout. You have some street cred. You're a corporal. The other thing, though, is that, like, it's it seems like a lot of us went together. Like when I would always when do you went with me to headquarters Marine Corps to which I get right very, very. And we were roommates. So it's very odd. 

SPRAGUE: Was that continuing a part of that buddy system thing or. 

DREW: They say that the only thing the buddy system said is the guarantee that you went to boot camp together. 

SPRAGUE: And how did you get two tours together? 

DREW: I have not. We have no idea. And the only thing I can think of, I guess, is that a lot of people from Okinawa, I shouldn't say a lot a few of us went to Henderson Hall. So with the whole corporal thing, when I got corporal, everybody was kind of when I say everybody, I should say they kind of all of us like the worker bees, you know, because you had like the staff sergeant and then the corporal and then, you know, either watch all of us kind of became corporal at the same time. So it was kind of like you didn't have anybody to boss around because we were all like, that's it. So had I stayed in, absolutely, I probably would've gotten more of that. But but still, I mean, even, you know, seeing people on on base and, you know, I, I felt like I had like, you know, a little bit more clout then because, you know, you definitely see, like I said, you see a lance corporal different than a corporal because you don't know really know also how long that lance corporal spent on lance corporal. And unless you're there in uniform and they were the the straight. But you could be a lance corporal for like get out of boot camp as Owen's corporal and or you could be three years and still lance corporal So yeah. 

SPRAGUE: So so when you was also with you at the headquarters. 

DREW: Yes yes I know. So she she she came first and then I then I came after her. 

SPRAGUE: And just for the record, how did how do you spell Wendy's last name was us. 

DREW: It's s t r. I'm p l e. 

SPRAGUE: Triple. 

DREW: Yeah. Struggle. 

SPRAGUE: Struggle. 

DREW: After last name. I think she got married, but. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. But at the time, it was trouble. 

DREW: Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. What? Having her as your buddy. She wasn't your roommate or she was. 

DREW: She went. You got to be my roommate again in Edgars, okay? Yes, in D.C.. 

SPRAGUE: Did that that relationship change over time or was it pretty static throughout? 

DREW: It was pretty static, I think. In headquarters when we were at station headquarters, Marine Corps, like we were on the same watch. So I think after a while, I think we asked to get off each other's watches because it was like, you know, we lived together. We also went to work together. I mean, and we had a small room. So just to yeah, just to kind of not always be together. So then that worked. Doesn't mean you want to come back to your room and just have some quiet time. Right. And not always. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: What in your downtime at Henderson Hall did you do? 

DREW: So I didn't have a car, but I started working at Pentagon City Mall. Because. Because when you did, when you started working there at a candy stop shop and then I was like, well, I want to work there. So I worked at. A store called A Hot Spot. And it's it's kind of like a store that had like, gag gifts and like, media dispensers. If anybody knows for response, I don't know. 

SPRAGUE: I don't want to spend you. 

DREW: You do. Okay. Maybe the younger people I know, they want they want to I so I worked there working there and that I really liked that because that that got me out of military. I started like hanging around some civilians. Just watching them, like, interact with each other was interesting. I remember a lot of times people wouldn't show up for work or they they called in and I was like, I know, like, so you did that? Like I was. And then. And then it would make me mad because then I'd be alone in the store or yeah, I was like, Well, I like that. I and I still don't. I mean, unless you're really, really sick. But, you know, it was all like kids working there. I say kids. I mean like 17, 18. I mean, I was still a kid. I was 21, but I just felt that they were very. 

SPRAGUE: Responsible, I would imagine, for an active duty Marine coming into the civilian world to work part time, I I'm assuming. 

DREW: Right? Yes. 

SPRAGUE: I would think that would be quite a shock. 

DREW: It was. Yeah. I guess the calling in people not showing up or just not showing up for work like I, I that was I never fathom that or could imagine someone just not showing up and other people know would steal on the register and it's just yeah. Things that I never imagined happened in the civilian world. So yeah, it was it was quite a shock. Definitely. 

SPRAGUE: Do you think do you think maybe that prepared you for what was going to happen? 

DREW: Because. Yeah, I do. I do think that that that probably gave me because then I knew I was going to get out in 93 and I knew I wanted to stay in D.C. cause I loved it. I really, really, really loved it. It was it everybody was military in D.C., it seemed like back then. And and I wanted to go to school because I know what else to do. Um, my mom was begging me to come back home, and my sister was. But I was like. Like I wasn't ready yet. Like, I still ready to, you know, still meet new people. So. 

SPRAGUE: So before we get to that. Okay, one quick question I have to ask, did you have any encounters with the well, you were in the Corps sexual harassment? 

DREW: Definitely, yeah. Just even. Been being told by other Marines like you, Why are you in the Marine Corps? I mean, that was that. I heard that a lot. Like you're a woman. Why are you in the Marine Corps, which I think is part of that, right? I mean, it's just it just making you feel like you don't belong. You shouldn't be there. They. Yeah. The catcalls, the whistles that, you know, just walk into the chow hall, You know, you got to a point where you just you just ignored it. It just wasn't worth saying anything to. Plus, you never do. Like, if you're going to say something, you're going to get retaliated. You know, what were they going to do back to you? So when you and I, we we traveled a lot together. And I think for that reason, just because you didn't know what was going to happen, so you just always wanted to always have a buddy system. And that was, you know, buddy system in the Marine Corps. But when, you know, I always kind of took that like even a buddy system when we were off base together, you know, to to different, you know, in 29 Palms, a lot of people went down to Tijuana. I never went down to Tijuana, but she would she would go but she would take something with her, you know, always have somebody with you. And if it wasn't another female really trusted male that you knew and there were there were many male Marines that I knew that had my back, like, would not stand for that, you know, whether they saw me as like a sister or, or whatever. But but yeah, just yeah. Lot especially war and Okinawa and Twentynine Palms. Do you see it wasn't that that prevalent but those two duty stations and I think Marines these days I'm sure still have that same spot of like why are women there. You know, we were held to the same standards as them, but they never had them. Didn't think they we should be there. We were called the wedding. They were called the Barbie twins a lot, which, you know, again, was like it didn't feel good. It was I didn't take it as a compliment. Like, I don't know what you really mean by that, but I'm assuming it's probably not appropriate. So yeah, yeah, that's and I guess, you know, you would I guess I could imagine when women were we don't have a lot of female Marines. So when wherever we were, there wasn't many of us. And, you know, we were always with the men. And I think they we always had to prove ourselves. That's what I remember the most. It was always having to, like, prove myself and then do a little bit extra more to prove myself so that no one saw me as like weak or that I was the like, you know, the weakest link or anything like that. But yeah, I think it's and I would think that it's was common because when they had, you know, the same cat calls and things like that and, you know, people knocking on your door at night and you're like, Oh goodness, who is that? And so you just, you don't answer it, of course. But just yeah, a lot of things like that. 

SPRAGUE: Do you think did you have any instances of gender discrimination where you felt you didn't get a position or a job because of. 

DREW: Um. Not in my four years, yeah. Again, I think because I was maybe lower in the ranks. No, like, not that I. I can think of. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Do you think that atmosphere affected your decision to stay in the Corps or not at all? 

DREW: I think a little bit. I also was ready. They were downsizing the Marine Corps, too. I mean, I knew a lot of people who re-enlisted. I mean, Wendy re-enlisted and she did 20 years. And I'm just so proud of her. And like, she's she's really a badass. So she re-enlisted. Yeah. I mean, I was kind of tired of, like, being one of the few, you know, where I was then. I think I was just ready to. To move. To move on. Mm hmm. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Tell me about your decision to leave. The Corps leaves. 

DREW: So, yeah, I wanted to. I thought about I was going to stay in D.C.. You know, the next logical thing I thought was to go to school. So I made sure, though, because I needed a I needed money and the GI Bill was not like enough to support me that I got $400 a month. That's it for. 

SPRAGUE: Wow. 

DREW: Yeah. So what I thought would be like, I'd have all this money and I did. It didn't pan out to be, I don't know, part of money. I mean, it helped, you know? Of course. But, I mean, that's. I mean, nowadays when I'm hearing people like, enlist and they get like a 10,000, $20,000 bonus, I was like, oh, my gosh, like, I want that. 

SPRAGUE: But that's just a bonus, too. 

DREW: And that's just a bonus. Yes. That's just that above and beyond of other benefits. So. And then when I got out, okay, so I kind of knew that I need to get a job. So before so before I left, before I got out. So I worked at Hotspot and then I started working at Hallmark St in the same mall. And then I started working at. A seafood restaurant in the mall. I was I was a hostess, so I was working three jobs and still still working and still in the Marine Corps. But like towards like the last couple of months because I know I need it. And then I then I started saving money, as much money as I could because I was like, okay, like, time is real. I'm getting out. I don't have anything. So then I got out in September for school, the start school. They I remember my last day just checking out of everywhere, getting ready to 14 and then like, walking off base. Like there was no that was it. There is no, like. 

SPRAGUE: No transition. 

DREW: No trend. No, not at all. Not at all. Not at all. Getting, you know, going through all the medical stuff. 

SPRAGUE: And how did that how did that feel for you? 

DREW: Like, I just like, they just dropped me. Like they were like I or that's it. You're done. Like, we don't need you anymore. And that kind of is the stance of the military. I mean, like you said early, like if they need you to go somewhere, they'll tell you. Like, they need you to have something. Don't give it to you. If they don't need you, then they don't. Then you're done and you just kind of dropped. So yeah, yeah, I didn't feel too good. I kind of felt like I was abandoned, but I was kind of like, well, you know, I had no health insurance. They had Tell me about the VA. So any time I went somewhere I had self pay for, I just didn't go. I mean, and looking back, you know, Virginia and D.C., like they have so many great VA's there and I get to go to any of them when they could have if they would have been told that. But I didn't know that. 

SPRAGUE: You just didn't know. 

DREW: Yeah, I just did. No, I really did. Nobody said anything about make sure you get into the VA. So like what's you know, what we're doing now? I think it's so important to, like, talk to these service members coming out and just connecting them right away with the VA, which is what I kind of started doing an advocate for. 

SPRAGUE: You had mentioned a little bit about this during the pre-interview. Do you miss the camaraderie? 

DREW: I do, yes, absolutely I do. I do. You know, as much as I guess anywhere you go, you have some good people in the not so good. Not good, not so good people. But the people that I've met and like were just outstanding. And I still connect with some of them today. But of course, it's not the same, you know, just knowing that you can all go out together and have a couple beers or even go down, you know, in Okinawa, they had a vending machine with beer. And if you just go downstairs, drink some beer, play some pool, get your clothes washed by the mama. And I mean, it was just everyone kind of did that. And we just it was just a big it was just a big family. Absolutely. 

SPRAGUE: So you get out, you're working jobs and did you continuous school work? 

DREW: What happened? Yeah. So I got out. I started at Northern Virginia Community College. And I continue working the three jobs. And then I got an apartment. Somehow I found this really cheap apartment in Virginia. And, yeah, in Alexandria. Arlington. Lived there. And then I remember one day at school. They had like an ad because they back in the old days, you put ads up on the wall like, look, people looking for jobs or do you want this job? You know, just advertisement. And there was a position working at a group home with adults with special needs. And I have a brother who has Down syndrome. So I was like that like, like I could do that, you know, And I was going to, you know, I could have one job and make more money. So I got hired to to do that for and that was I was one of my I love that job. That was a a great job. But I really don't I mean, thinking about like being a veteran and everything, I don't even know if they even knew I was a veteran at that position. Yeah, I'm I'm sure my resume said that. But I never, like, talked about knowing. No one's asked me question about where I served and what I did. It was just wasn't talked about. Not that I hit it, but also I didn't, you know, how do you bring that up? Cause I know when I went to school, too, I've never I didn't tell anybody I was a veteran. 

SPRAGUE: So why do you think that was? 

DREW: I think I was just trying to fit in to the civilian, like. And I don't know what people thought of that. I was a veteran, you know, every now and then I would tell people and, you know, the biggest response I get is you're too pretty to be a marine. So that doesn't that didn't feel good. So then I was like, well, I'm not going to tell people that because, like, again, what does that mean? Like, I think I know what that means. But again, that's that's not a compliment. I don't know. They thought that was a compliment, but it's it's not. So unfortunately, I still hear that. But I think it's I didn't tell people because I didn't want to that a response like that or oh, you're Marine you know your your what did you do people did you kill those kinds of questions or like, really, it's not appropriate. And I didn't want to answer to those. So just keeping it quiet was like a okay with me. 

SPRAGUE: So what eventually brought you back to Wisconsin? 

DREW: Um, I finished school because I went to George Mason University, finished my social work degree. At George Mason? Yep, that's in Fairfax, Virginia. And I decided to move back. My brother, who has Down syndrome, was having open heart surgery, and he was just living along with my mom. My other, you know, other siblings had moved out and I was like, okay, I think it's time to move back home, get with the family, you know, take care of Todd if I need to. So my dad helped me pack up literally the day after graduation. I packed up and and drove back up to Wisconsin. So. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Did you keep continue I know there's one at least you continued relationships with people you served with or connections. Was there any more than Wendy or. 

DREW: Yes, I have probably. 33 people on Facebook. Oh, yeah. Yeah. All on Facebook. So like, not like I don't talk to them, but I connected them on Facebook and I, you know, just to see like their families where they're at now, you know, what they've been doing. So yeah, from like even my instructors, one of my Facebook friends, like I remember she requested to be my friend. And my first instinct was like, I don't know, like, can't even I mean, I'm supposed to look at her in the eye like, how can she be my Facebook friend? But I accepted it because we all did. She's there. She's a wonderful, wonderful person. So yeah, about about 30. It's most of us, like I said, some of them, I remember them from boot camp, but that was it. But so. 

SPRAGUE: What involvement do you have with veterans organizations? Any or? 

DREW: I don't. I made join used to be belong to the Marine Corps League, so I may I would certainly have an inkling to go back. So we'll see how worries. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: We talked about this a little bit before. So initially and coming out and not thinking as a veteran or identifying as a veteran, do you do you think now you more strongly identify yourself to. 

DREW: Yes, I do. I have some military gear, you know, meaning like I have a marine jacket, you know, that I wear and just as marine on it. But I don't wear a lot. My license plate does say Marine on it. I thought that was pretty cool. And another woman that I met here was a more woman, Marine. And so I she taught me how to go do it. I don't have to pay for it. You just said send your deeds for 14 and there's a woman anchor on here. 

SPRAGUE: So I was concerned with the marine plate, correct? 

DREW: Yes. Yes. Yeah. So every now and then I get hot, Dad. I mean, not in a weird way, but a bit. Yeah. So it's kind of like a again, like that camaraderie, you know, I can hunt and waved and I can. They're that they're, you know, they're Army or Marines and they. Yeah. So it's like another like identify like, hey, you know, kind of a connection, like we're all still here, too. So that's, you know, that's kind of cool. 

SPRAGUE: Do you find yourself connecting with other Marines like or or veterans like, for instance, that I'm not visible thing or other? 

DREW: Absolutely. Absolutely. I do. And it's immediate when you find out that they're a marine. It's an immediate like a even closer like connection. I think meeting people from other branches is is great. And there's definitely a connection. And we can sit and probably talk for hours, give each other a hard time and talk about Marines and and Koreans and, you know, Army, you know, doing this and the Coast Guard and the Navy being our Uber, you know, all that. We can definitely do that for a long time. But when you meet a marine, it's like incredible, like stories that come up, things that they their stories help me remember my stories. I mean, that's that's really cool. Like, if I could remember what they stood for, usually that person that Marine can can remember or remind me what it stood for. 

SPRAGUE: Do you celebrate the Marine Corps birthday? 

DREW: Absolutely. That's our birthday. That is my birthday as a marine. Yes, that is our birthday. We do. I do. Every year. Yes. Yeah. My son had he knows how to play the piano. And he used to play that the Marine Corps League or him for for me every morning. I well, a lot of time. But definitely at the Marine Corps birthday he'll play that for me. So. Wow. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: So what does serving the country mean to you? 

DREW: Oh, I it means. It means a lot. It means. It means that, you know, I believe in this country. I love this country. I can't imagine not being here and then and thinking about all the other men and women before me and what they have done for our country. You know, my little piece, I think, in what I did, it is just a little piece. But I think if you put us all together, it's pretty it's pretty amazing. And it's my love for this country just continues. Every time I hear the national anthem, I cannot get to that song without having a tear. You know, it's just it's so powerful. And you think that will I mean, and I hope and I'm sure it will always be that way for me. It's just it's an honor. You know, it's it's it's an honor to have done that, to make that choice. So it's really it means a lot that that I again, like I was part of that and I wouldn't ever change it for the world. You know, I think that, you know, I went in with that like patriotism and I want to serve my country. And but I didn't realize, like when I got out, like, how much that my service meant to me and and to the country. So. 

SPRAGUE: So hypothesize her moment with me. What if you had gone into the military? How do you think your life had turned out? 

DREW: Gosh. Uh. Probably just. I don't even know. I don't I don't think I would have as much discipline. I don't know if I would have completed high school or college. I don't know if I would have if I would have just kind of ended up in a job that I didn't have any direction. I mean, the Marine Corps definitely gave me a direction, but I still didn't know what I wanted to be when I got out of the Marine Corps. But I knew that, like, I wanted to be something, you know, because I was something I want to I want to be something again. So I don't know. I don't I don't feel like I probably would have been as successful, you know, and and probably had to have these feelings of patriotism and camaraderie. And, you know, I'm sure it affected the way I was. You know, I'm hoping that it made me a better parent. Maybe it didn't. That's my son there. But he would probably say yes. I mean, he's yeah, he had to go through some Marine things. Now, you know, I had a very orderly, very clean, very. Yeah, great needs. So. 

SPRAGUE: Uh, we just went through Memorial Day. What what what do you do on Memorial Day or what are your thoughts on that? 

DREW: Uh, I when I go to, you know, an event and just like I said, I was here on Memorial Day just to to commemorate, commemorate and honor those who passed and die for our country. I made the ultimate sacrifice. So it is the definitely a memorial Day is not a happy day. It's not you know, you hear that in sales and things like that that go on. But it's it is definitely it was a it was a somber day. I mean, yeah, it was a somber day. But I also try to I also bring in gratitude. You know, you got to bring in gratitude to, you know, that we were we we are able to have our freedom because of those who died before us. So it's still I think we still need to educate the public about that day. And I think maybe hopefully we're we're getting like little steps forward. But we still need to educate more people about that day that people get. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I still get that. I still get I still got text. I still got, you know, happy Memorial Day emails. And it's like, okay, that's. Yeah. Yeah. But. 

SPRAGUE: What motivated you to do this interview? Um. 

DREW: I didn't want to at first, and I and I still, even this morning when I got up, I was like, I really want to do this. But what really motivated me is just to tell my story and, you know. Yeah, tell my story. 

SPRAGUE: Okay. Did we miss anything that you'd like to cover? Um. 

DREW: No. Except I do have one more story. Okay. I think about telling my story as my. If my mom would love if I told this. Story. It's not a sad story. So sorry. So I was. Leaving to go to Okinawa. And of course, back then it was at 90. We didn't have the Internet, so I had no idea where Okinawa was. So again, when my mom walked me to the to the plane and we hugged, goodbye, I cried. She cried. And everybody know why I'm crying about this? Because it's a funny story. I turned around and I said, I don't even know where Okinawa is. So I saw words. You did? And she just laughed and she thought, God, I'm leaving my daughter. Go somewhere that she's like, I know we're all going to you know, she'd even know where Okinawa was either. We kind of knew, you know, is is far east. But yeah, that's, that was that's always that's how I remember, you know, so. That's about it. Okay. Yeah. 

SPRAGUE: Then we're going to go ahead and conclude the interview. Great. 

DREW: Thank you. 

SPRAGUE: Thank you. 

[Interview Ends]