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Virginia Van Dongen Collection

Virginia Young Van Dongen (1923-2020) of Rochester, New York, served with the United States Coast Guard SPARs (Semper Paratus—Always Ready) from 1943 to 1945.

Oral history interview with Virginia Young Van Dongen
Documents Virginia "Ginny" Young Van Dongen's early life in Rochester, New York; her service with the U.S. Coast Guard SPARs (Semper Paratus' Always Ready) from 1943 to 1945; and her family life after World War II. Van Dongen recalls her decision to leave Eastman Kodak Company to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard and the reactions of her mother and her fiancee to it. She describes the living conditions, daily routine, and social activities at all of her duty stations. Other significant topics include basic training at the Biltmore Hotel in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1943; classes at the radio school in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1943; and her communications work at Port Angeles with the teletype and Morse code in 1944 and 1945. Personal topics include her marriage and eight children and her continued friendships with fellow SPARs.
Portrait of three SPARS
Virginia Van Dongen (top) and two fellow Coast Guard SPARS from the Atlantic City station pose in 1944.
Virginia Van Dongen
Virginia Van Dongen in dress blue uniform outside her mother's home, immediately following her enlistment with the SPARs in summer of 1943.

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