Natasha Sudderth Schoonover Collection

Details

Who's responsible?: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries (Repository)
How much has been digitized?: Only a part of this collection has been digitized.
What's in the full collection?: February 2013 oral history and photographs and digital scans of newspaper articles.
Full biography: Natasha Sudderth Schoonover (b. 1978) from Boone, North Carolina, served with the Army National Guard as a Heavy Wheel Vehicle operator driving between the Persian Gulf to the Iraqi border. She served from 1995-2005 and retired with the rank of sergeant. Natasha Suddreth Schoonover was born in Boone, North Carolina and raised in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Due to learning difficulties Schoonover dropped out of high school a few months before her graduation and decided to pursue a career in the Army National Guard. She attended basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and was then assigned to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where she learned to drive tractor trailers. Once she returned to Boone, Schoonover was assigned to the 1451st Transportation Company, where she worked with Active Duty for Special Work (ADSW), as well as helping with the recovery from Hurricane Floyd in 1999. In January 2003, Schoonover was activated to go to Iraq, but having given birth three months prior she was granted the option of staying in the United States. Feeling personally obligated to deploy with her unit, Schoonover left for Iraq in March 2003, where, for thirteen months, she and her unit ran supply convoys between various cities. While in Iraq, Schoonover realized her calling to become a minister. When she returned to Blowing Rock, she applied to and subsequently graduated from Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina, before receiving a full scholarship to attend the Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. In 2005, she decided to leave the Army National Guard.
Topics: Women's History
Military
Branch of service: Army -- Army National Guard
Conflict: Gulf War (1990-2000)
War on Terror, OEF, OIF (2001-Present)
Subject headings: United States--History--1945-
United States. Army--Women
Contributing Institution: Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries

: Natasha Schoonover; Photograph of Natasha Schoonover,

: Oral history interview with Natasha Schoonover; Primarily documents the early life of Natasha Suddreth Schoonover; her time in the Army National Guard; and her life after service.

: Photograph of Army 1450 Transport Company HQ 1st Platoon; This photo shows members of Army 1450 Transport Company HQ 1st Platoon in December 2005, distributing clothes, shoes, toys, and school supplies to children in the the southern Iraqi village of Safukin. All of the materials were donated by people in Schoonover's hometown of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

: Photograph of Army 1450 Transport Company HQ 1st Platoon distributing gifts in Safukin, Iran; This photograph shows Natasha Sudderth Schoonover and members of Army 1450 Transport Company HQ 1st Platoon in December 2005, distributing clothes, shoes, toys, and school supplies to children in the the southern Iraqi village of Safukin. All of the materials were donated by people in Schoonover's hometown of Blowing Rock, North Carolina.