Carolyn Miller Comfort Collection
-
-
Oral history interview with Carolyn Miller Comfort
-
Carolyn Comfort talks about joining the military during the Vietnam War and her experience being in the Woman’s Army Corps. She talks about basic training, the typical day while training and some of the difficulties of being a woman in the military. Comfort goes into detail about her first duty station in Washington D.C. during the height of political turmoil in 1968. Since she worked at the office of Plans and Operations, she worked closely with the Secret Service and knew about plans for a national emergency or attack on the president and was able to participate in President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s funeral service. Comfort discusses her assignment in Frankfurt, Germany, including her work, seeing distinguished people in her office, and culture shock. Comfort briefly talks about her work in the reserves after leaving the military and her experience working as a full-time active-duty reservist. She reflects on the issues of gender discrimination, sexual assault and harassment in the military, but also discusses the positive changes she saw in the military over her 20-year long career. Comfort touches on the loss of her brother while she was in the military and how that affects her views on protests and talks about The Kent State and Jackson State shootings in 1970. Other topics she touches on include 9/11, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, patriotism, and veteran support.
