Lee Bevilacqua shared in her oral history, “Well…went into war, I felt that I should contribute something. So, I decided to join the Marine Corps. It seemed like a smaller unit. That’s why I joined it. And I worked with…in Quantico with the commandant there, doing various jobs. One of my last jobs I liked very much is when we were mustering out #soldiers when they were coming back from the war from Iwo Jima and so forth, yes.”

We asked, “what was the feeling of the nation like at that time? What did the nation feel like during war? Was there a feeling it evoked?” Lee replied, “Well, we were on rationing and I think there was a feeling of cooperation. I think the women joined helping, you know, working in the industries. And I felt there was a quite [comradery], you know.”

Currently, she serves her community as a Laguna Woods History Center Trustee. She was instrumental with the #newspaper #digitization project. Visit http://lagunawoodshistory.org/oralhistories/community to hear her and other residents’ #stories.

#seniorcitizensday #seniorcitizen #elder #elderly #history #WWII #LadyMarine #Marine #veteran #service #CA #Laguna #oralhistory #narrative #archive