Encoded for the Experiencing War web site for the Veterans History Project.
The recording of the interview with Lupe Sierra Stamm was digitized.
This transcription was encoded with minimal changes to the original text in an effort to preserve original content and idiosyncrasies of the person interviewed. Period language and terminology are also retained. Encoding is literal with regard to the transcriptionist's capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. Spelling errors are indicated with [sic]; however, recurring errors in spelling within a single document have been marked the first time and not subsequently.
We are at the Institute of Historical Survey, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, re-taping the July 31, 2007 interview with veteran Lupe Sierra Stamm. Lupe Sierra Stamm was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on October 14, 1923 and is now 84 years old. She lives at 1231 Akers Street, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Lupe Sierra Stamm served as a WAC during World War II. The interviewer is Louise Forshaw. Lupe, may we begin by your telling us what you were doing before you entered the service?
Before I entered the service, I had just recently graduated from high school in 1945. Then we youngsters didnt have too much experience for any type of work. We worked locally with the draft board, the county school superintendents office, and teachers and other offices like that, where we could gain a little experience. That was the only thing we had. So, we continued working there for maybe a year, and then... I had a civil service opportunity to take a job at an internment camp in Lordsburg, New Mexico. We had Japanese, Germans, and other foreign prisoners of war. That was supposed to be the largest internment camp in Lordsburg, New Mexico. My duties there were clerk typist, working in the office, where we received soldiers and so forth. We were still under... We were civilians in civil service. Our living conditions were very poor because Lordsburg was not too big of a city. We had to work long hours because everything in the offices had to be finished in a twenty four hour period. Most of our supplies came from Fort Sam, Houston. Most of the clerks there were soldiers wives, because they had first choice at the jobs. But there were many civilians from many parts of New Mexico. The housing, of course, was nil. There were no trailers or anything were the workers could stay. So we would contact different families who might have extra rooms in there homes and were willing. We would pay them rent, and they would supply us with one good meal a day, because there was just a little store there, a Chinese store. Sometimes we would get off at twelve oclock at night. There was nothing open. We werent allowed to eat with the personnel there. We had, just prisoners alone, over five thousand, and a number of personnel who had come by way of the Persian Gulf to serve. Then, the other problems were transportation. Lordsburg didnt have busses. So we had to ride the PX truck, which is alright, but we had to get up very early. Around 5 oclock, when they would carry supplies to the camp. It was better than walking. Thats all I have about Lordsburg internment camp. After the camp de-activated, I decided I wanted to join the service. I wasnt quite twenty. We had to be at least twenty one. My parents signed a waiver for me, and a marine sergeant, a woman who was stationed at Lordsburg in a recruiting area, was the one who took care of me. I was the only recruit from Lordsburg at that particular time. I joined the Army because I had written to the Navy, the Air Force and everything else. I said whoever comes first, there Ill go. The Air Force came across for me, and after three years experience at the Internment camp, all the G.I.s and their wives in a completely military situation, I knew the lingo and procedures in the offices so I felt quite confident that there would be something in the service. Also my background had been very patriotic. My dad had taken me to National Guard meetings; they had their beautiful displays of flags and knowledge of our government laws. My dad served there for thirty-eight years. I enlisted and I had to go by train up to Santa Fe. Then from Santa Fe, another train to Chattanooga, Tennessee, then right up to where my training camp would be, which was in Georgia. I was there for eight weeks. We had all of our service training, same as the G.I.s, but we were not combatants. We had gun training, but that came a little bit later. We were there in Georgia for about eight weeks; very rigorous training. For recreation, we had movies, and we could go to the churches surrounding our camp. There were no twenty-four hour passes at that time. We had over four hundred girls training at the time. I was the only one from New Mexico, which was interesting to me. Actually, I had never been farther than El Paso; it was interesting to see there were so many ethnic people. The other thing I found, the girls from Boston were very Catholic which was also my religion and we got along just fine. From the very beginning we got along just fine. Very well, there were no problems with our different backgrounds; we respected each one of us, which I thought was wonderful because this was just basic. We had a lot of fun. One day I was walking down the street in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It happened to be a Sunday, I saw this WAC coming toward me. She said, "Arent you Lupe?" I said, "Ota esa. Moreno. (?)" I didnt know she was a native of Las Cruces. I didnt know she was around there because she had already gotten out of basic. I thought it was wonderful. So we spent a very wholesome happy day speaking with each other. Then I never saw her again. In fact, the twenty women who enlisted from Las Cruces are all gone now, unfortunately. I feel that it is a privilege to speak for them. Then again, as I was saying, we sang in the choir, went to restaurants. But there were no twenty-four hour passes. Finally after eight weeks, we were assigned to different areas. My assignment was to Western Field, Austin, Texas. The first carrier command in the southwest, so to speak because the others were in the Midwest more or less. The carrier command was situated in an area we called "Del Valle" which was a beautiful valley. The government took it over for this particular base, it was huge. We had many squadrons; we had over eight thousand military personnel, not counting civilians and workers. They were very strict with us because we were receiving pilots who had just gotten out of ground school at Texas, various areas. They were specializing in gliders, which was new at the time. They caused many accidents, unfortunately. We had B-47s. Like I said, the pilots were being trained for the first time. My assignment for eighteen months at Western Field was in special services. I didnt know what special services were, but I soon learned. Special service is a broad field, and we had only one captain in charge there. They assigned me to education and recreation areas, which was right up my alley. It was run by not only the main officer, my captain, but also by two female WAC officers, and three to five enlisted personnel. They were constantly busy, as I found out I would be. My office was in the recreational area where dances and everything, so you can imagine how busy we were. My special interest was meeting the stars, and people who would come to visit our base from all over the country, and also the activities such as sports, swimming, the University of Boston who were extremely nice to us in bringing drama and other activities to us; sharing with us. One day I asked my captain if I could have a basketball team. He said, "Well, if you win the first game, Ill get you some uniforms." So I informed the girls. They were real eager to play. I got the tallest ones I could possibly find. I was short. We played against Corpus Christi the first game, and we just [inaudible]. My captain and the whole recreational area were full of G.I.s because they were going to critique us as to how to play basketball. We were nervous, but we won. We continued playing nurses from the different hospitals there, and other WAC units, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. In addition to that, I taught Spanish, beyond my duties, which I liked. There were only two or three WACs at the base who spoke Spanish. In the education area, my captain and other WAC officers asked me if I could use one hour two or three times a week to teach it. I said of course, it would be a good experience for me to teach Spanish. I had about fifteen students, and they seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. After eighteen months at Western Field, I was sent to special services school in Virginia for three months, and that was also to teach in various ways for conducting recreation for troops especially overseas. The specialties that they offered us were just fantastic. I had no idea that our officers in charge were from Hollywood, California. Lo and behold, one of our students was Reg Calton (?), the comedian. He was such a lovely person, he broke all the rules of the military, and he would purposely wear a long overcoat that went down to his ankles. He would make sure that his bright red carrot hair was always flying in the wind. He was kind of a sloppy Joe. [laughter] We loved him. He would send us oranges from his orange grove in California. We finished our special services classes, which were very militaristic. They were showing us how to be ambassadors, where ever we would have to serve. Of course the United States, but especially overseas. So, I thoroughly enjoyed it, we just kept... I dont think we had one minute to ourselves except on weekends we were allowed to go to church. After three months there, it seemed the program, it changed every week, and when we went to bed we were really glad. The purpose of the school was to teach the enlisted personnel how to work with other troops overseas, especially in areas where everything was so remote and there was not too much pertaining to sports and entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed that. At the end of the school, we had to put on a production of things we had learned. This is how we were rated, excellent, satisfactory, and unsatisfactory. If it was unsatisfactory we were sent back to our bases. We all tried to do the best we could because it was such fun to be learning with these wonderful people who could take five hundred personnel and have them dancing and singing and whatever. We were so proud of what we had learned. By the end of the school term, which was three months, my unit had to put on a Christmas play. I was very lucky I got to play a reindeer with Rev Carlton (?) playing Santa Claus. I was in charge of costumes. Heaven forbid, reindeer, I thought, where am I going to get horns. We always have people to help us. I finally found it. We dressed in white t-shirts, a lot of cotton, horns out of bamboo or whatever we could find; it really turned out very nice, because we were being graded on it. We couldnt use cardboard or anything like that. It brings a lot of memories to me because; out of nothing we had built this beautiful production for the troops and ourselves. Then, when we finished our assignment I returned back to Western Field, my headquarters. I found my overseas orders there waiting for me. I was very surprised. When I enlisted, as I said before, we took the place of the auxiliary WACS, who never went overseas. But they are the ones who solved a lot of problems for the next generation. When I got my orders, we didnt know anything else. We were supposed to report to Des Moines, Iowa. We did that, and within a month we were ready to be sent over there. At Fort Des Moines, we stayed another three months. Again, very rigorous training, we had jumping from ladders, all safety precautions. Other than that our training was the exact same as the G.I.s and we were more trained in the use of a gun. We didnt carry rifles or anything, but we did use a gun. At Fort Des Moines, we had an extremely rigorous routine. All the other places I had been were not very friendly to us, for example Id call a taxi to go to a church, and they would push us out of the way and get in themselves. Which I thought was not very friendly. Thats what we experienced. Fort Des Moines had a lot of rain, just like most of the south. It was beautiful country, besides experiencing chiggers and everything else. Other than that, it was wonderful. We were ready to go. So, the next stop was Camp Shanks, New York to wait for a ship to go to Europe. Again, we didnt know what our orders were or why. However, we were spoiled rotten. We had watermelon, candy, anything we wanted. We were allowed the week before we sailed, to go into town and I had saved a little money since I had never been to New York. One of my friends, I told her. "You know New York, you dont have to worry about the money, and I want you to show me everything; the subways, the theaters, because Im probably never going to come back here. Im a desert rat." So, that weekend, they let us have one twenty four hour pass because we were going overseas. I had not asked for mine until this particular time. I didnt want to lose that opportunity. We both got on subways, trains, taxis. We really saw the city. Later on, as a civilian I got to go back. To me that was the most wonderful experience. She really knew the city. I couldnt get used to the subway. It stops, it goes too fast. I enjoyed those things though. We had a wonderful time. I didnt have any money when I got back to the base, but I didnt care. I went up to the head of the Statue of Liberty. I couldnt do that today, but anyway, it was just a wonderful experience, I saw the cathedral, the churches; everything. I was exhausted, but it was worth it. Back at camp where we were still waiting for the ship, they gave us everything. They decided we were ready to go to Europe, by then we knew where we were going, because we had been issued heavy woman clothes. We were glad we werent going to the south Pacific, and besides we were in New York. We were studying every detail. We finally got on a ship. It was a merchant marine ship; it was called U.S. Army Transport, BB Alexander, which was a Merchant Marine ship with limited personnel, and the crew. There were three hundred of us aboard. We said bye to the Statue of Liberty and a short prayer. There we were, we were very crowded; it wasnt a large ship. So, we had to spend most of the time below deck. We were allowed to come up three or four times a day to breathe the ocean air. When we were out at sea, we could only see the ocean and the sky. It was about a week and a half. Being as it was winter, in the Atlantic, it was kind of rough. Just the sky and the water, and I kept wondering how long it would take. Somehow we made it. There were a lot of many colored WACS, who were going to Paris. We had no idea in Europe where we were going, so when we reached the harbor, I had read about it. I thought it would be beautiful. When we came through La Havre, we were very disappointed. Nothing had been cleaned, it was gloomy. We didnt say anything. One thing I must say about the women soldiers, we never complained about anything, never. If we didnt have food, or water we never complained and did the best we could. We were disappointed there; when we got there we were assigned to Compiegne Forest, where we [inaudible], and we had already read about that in our school book and everything. We really attached more instability (?) to it, because when we were studying, who knew we would be in the forest there where the armistice had been signed. So that was another great privilege that we had. We stayed there another couple of months or so, and we were restricted to our tents because there were a lot of snipers. I remember hanging out a piece of clothing on the tree to dry; we had no facilities whatsoever, radio or water. The tents were very small. Two or three slept in each tent. We looked like a group of girl scouts, which I recall made me feel better. Other than that, the weather was great. We didnt have a lot of snow or rain or anything. We did have a lot of guards around us, protecting us. Thats one thing I must say about the army, where ever we were, we were protected. Going back to basic, we were told not to travel unless we were in a group. I always remembered that, and we were safe most of the time. At Compiegne, after about nearly three months, we were sent to Paris. We flew in an old plane, I dont know if it was American or whatever, but somehow we got to Paris. When we got to Paris that was a complete surprise also because the facilities that werent there. We got there tired, had to go to the restroom and everything else, and nobody really bothered with us. In fact, since we left the states in New York, we didnt see any American officer with us at any time, male or female. Of course, in the states we were spoiled because we lived right next to our barracks, and our commandant and everybody. When we got there we found out that we were on our own. Paris, we were there about another three weeks and we still didnt know where we were going. We knew we were in Europe of course, and nobody would tell us anything, we were just on our own. We got along fine, never complaining or anything. The people, when we arrived, we were allowed to watch the people go by and everything. They were not the kind of people we thought we would meet. They were wearing bedroom slippers for shoes. They werent paired, one was purple and one was white, whatever you could find; extreme poverty. The women dressed in military uniforms that they had gotten at some store or had been given away, and later on that happened to us in Berlin. When we got to Berlin, from Paris we had to fly to Berlin, we landed at Templehof Airport which was the only one there, and it was in the Russian section. After about three hours of flight we landed at Templehof and immediately about fifty soldiers entered the plane. Russian soldiers because it was in the Russian sector. We had different sectors we learned later, American, French, English, and Russian. We landed in the Russian. They went in there and just stared at us, they were heavily armed, very warmly clothed in all kinds of furs. Im sure they didnt speak English. We were sort of cowering, because we thought, "What now?" This was not what we were used to... They were very menacing. By then we had left the other women, colored women in Paris because that was going to be their headquarters.
About how many of you were there?
A hundred. There were no others there; we were the ones going in for the first time. And we were assigned to [inaudible] office of the military government, United States, in that particular sector. We were still in the plane with these Russian soldiers. About six hours later, we were hungry, thirsty, we hadnt eaten anything. All we had was our bags, which were heavily filled with our clothing. Then, the Russian soldiers motioned to us that we could now get out of the plane. They lowered the ladders, and we got out of this rickety old plane. They assigned us to a room which was near their section, which had probably been an emergency war room or something, because the conditions were terrible. When we opened the door, they told us this was the area where we were going to sleep, until the government took over. So we stayed there another three months. Everything was destroyed. Berlin had been heavily bombed by us and other troops. We found it very different from what we were used to, despite having lived in forests. But, when we got inside the room, the Russian soldiers motioned that we would sleep on these straw mats, which were not too large, barely enough for our head and shoulders. They were bloody. We didnt say anything while the soldiers were there, but when they left, we did the best we could. We threw the mats to the side, and slept on top of our bags which were very soft. We spent the night there and waited for the next day. The next day they came in, still no Americans to greet us. They brought us some rations and water. We felt like we were prisoners, but at least we were being guarded and protected. After that, we were getting used to it. They finally assigned us to the American sector, and lo and behold, we were so happy to see our 101st Paratroopers and the American soldiers there. Still no American women officers like we had been used to. In fact, we didnt know who our commandant was or anything. Everything was the G.I.s. We were under G.I. supervision, period. After a few months there, we were assigned to a [inaudible] on Berlin Strasse, which was a main street, the one that had been saved a little bit as far as buildings were concerned. This is why we had stayed with the Russians so long, because they were trying to fix it up for us. I mean, you could see that the roof had been torn off, and just completely destroyed. Somehow they managed to build up little villages, which to us were like palaces. And we had water, outside showers and everything else. In Berlin, the snow and ice were too cold for us. We were there for three months and then our clothing was given away to the French. Who did it, and why, we dont know. We only had what we had on, one uniform. Thank God they couldnt take that away. Then we had boots we had been issued. We were cold. We were getting a little soiled, dirty, and there were no provisions for us to wash there. So I was lucky because I got my job with the quarter master, the same as I had had in civilian life, before I enlisted. I told him after three months there, I told him, after I thought I knew him, he seemed to be real nice and everything. And he had been a paratrooper officer; he had seen a lot of action. He was the brig master then. I asked him, "Sir, we have had nothing to eat, but we feed the Russians three times a day." I had seen the soldiers eating vegetables and fruits and everything in there mess hall. So I said, "I wonder, if it could be possible for us to eat with enlisted men?" He said, "I have no jurisdiction over you." And I said, "Oh wow." My face fell five feet. I didnt say anything else. He said, "However, since you work for me, I dont give a damn what happens to me, you daughters are going to eat with my men." We came and started eating with them. We started producing wonderful work. We felt better, because our WACs were doing weather, clerical work, and all kinds of jobs of course. We were driving trucks, everything. Where I worked, the telephone headquarters of Hitler; it had been Hitlers communication quarters, it was underground, and we didnt know it then, but Berlin still has about a hundred of these underground bunkers. I dont know if theyre still in use, but theyre below the city; which is very interesting. I was teaching in Berlin, everything was of interest to me, everything. I saw the destruction, and how these people who had been so productive and intelligent, far beyond some of us in the United States, had nothing, all of a sudden. Nothing. And no money, and theyre surrounding people were Russian, and they didnt care about them. They werent being helped. One of our workers, that our government hired while we were being established, was a German lady. We didnt see very many Germans, and no men. We saw some women who worked around our headquarters, and in fact some of them would take our clothing and wash it for us. They would grow little tomatoes in their homes in little pots, and bring them to us, because they knew we didnt have vegetables. We in turn would give them chocolate, cigarettes, soap, and things like that from our rations. Like I said, after we started eating, we sort of revived, and we became vigorous. We gave back all we could in return. Then, in the village, you know how women are. Somehow we managed to share some of our belongings, and make shades for the windows, little curtains. It became like home. We were proud of it. We had a recreation area where we could dance on weekends. Otherwise, we were heavily guarded. Berlin was heavily mined. We werent allowed to walk; we had to ride the red cross truck. It was extremely cold. Our legs would freeze immediately. Thank goodness our quarter master took care of us. I dont know a thing about what happened to the other WACs, so we stayed there, working underground in very little light. What I understand now, that I didnt know then, is that it was like a city. Planes could fly out of there, cars and trucks. When I came back and learned all of this as a civilian, I admired what we had gone through a little more, because we could have... In the bunker, as I said, we were heavily guarded, because there were snipers, and it was heavily mined and everything. We couldnt do too much, so we had our chaplains and everything within our headquarters there. We were the 25th WAC detachment unit, Berlin, Germany. We were under the 1st Airborne Army. That was all we were allowed to...
In other words, nothing else could be given as information?
I remember I wrote a note to my sister, and it was still very much censored, so when she got it she only got about one third, saying I was okay, thats all. At least she got the idea, because in those days, being as it was close to the end of the war and everything, we werent allowed to go any place, we werent allowed to have furloughs or anything until much later. We were doing the war emergency work of closing up and everything else during the occupation, because we were there just when the occupation was getting started. But, the stench in Berlin was terrible. They still hadnt cleaned the bodies away. You could hear the tractors mowing them down, which was very sad, because you would wonder, "Who was that boy?" Most of us had a lot of members of our family serving. I had a brother in Italy serving Patton. Another one was a sailor in China, and I was in Berlin. Out of the six in my family, there were four missing. We all came back safely, thank god. We were there for a year in Berlin, and again, I was assigned as a 405, which is a stenographer. We didnt have much time, except for weekends. So I asked around there to another officer, who was in charge of special services, and I was familiar with the work, I asked him, who was in charge in the European Theatre. He said, "General Keys." I told him I wanted start a basketball team here. We have nothing to do, a recreation room and thats about it. I asked him. They were really nice to pay attention to me, I was just a sergeant. I knew that possibly that this officer, who was outstanding, I read in the G.I. paper that he was doing too much for the troops, going out of his way. Lo and behold he wrote to me, he said, "Yes, were going to start a basketball tournament for the WACs in the European Theatre. You get your groups together and well send you the info." I didnt ask any questions, that was enough for me. So I got a group of women, just like the ones I had in Texas, they were so eager. Some G.I., I dont know from whence he came, he volunteered to coach us, and we had some other WACs that traveled with us, we went by train all the way around Berlin, which was the hub city. We went to Strasburg, Frankfurt, and all these other little towns and cities. The G.I.s welcomed us with open arms; we would practice in Hitlers recreation areas. We had a pool. We had lots of areas that had been cleaned up already. We got to practice with our team, and we practiced every night because we wanted to be outstanding for Berlin. We were allowed, in those days, we played basketball two court. We had six players, we didnt play men. Believe me they were vicious. We had a lot of fun. We had a doctor in case we got hurt; they took good care of us. We were eager to play, and get out of Berlin for a little bit, and the gloom, our morale was getting low. We kept in touch with the General. Finally, we got the letters and all the instructions for the WAC tournament. All of Europe! It was like a picnic. What we had gone through we forgot. This was a new adventure to us. And we won! WACs from all over that were stationed in Europe. We made a lot of friends, we were vicious on the court, but off the court we were all in the same boat. So, we really loved it. At the end of the tournament... [inaudible] (Laughter)... But anyway, they won the tournament. They were all Americans of course, so we felt proud. We kept it American. We won second place. General Keys was so wonderful he allowed us to go on a trip to Bavaria after the tournament. There we were really spoiled. We were skiing in the Swiss Alps. We didnt know anything about skiing, those of us from the desert especially. But they supplied us with a German instructor, and she had us skiing like regular skiers in a week. Thats all we had, a week. We were going through the hills and everything. I remember especially, what was so beautiful were the people. They brought us hot chocolate, and of course we were staying in a non-combative area, and they had these beautiful valets, it didnt cost us a penny. We played ball in the snow, and just enjoyed ourselves. They didnt speak English but theyd bring out their horns, and teach us how to yodel. They were so kind. We were walking around in t-shirts, because we were so high up in the mountains we couldnt even feel it. [Break in Interview.]
Alright, youve had your trip to Bavaria, are we coming to the end of the war now?
Yes. Actually, it had started before we went to Bavaria; the occupation had been going on. You see what happened was, we thought we were still at war, because they still had snipers, and hadnt gotten rid of the bodies or anything. We saw how it was. But it had been only days since the war had ended, so we got to see a lot of that. What we went through was mainly the occupation. It was gloomy, and sad. Nothing was really good about it. After the tournament... it was a week, and then we went back to Berlin. We talked about it for months. That particular time, because of General Keys, we were [inaudible] the German people to operas and music. They had orchestras by then. Everything had been taken away from them during the war, thats how fresh the war was still, theyre memories were still... They didnt have to do that for us, they could have said, "You came in here and bombed us..." But they didnt have that attitude. I hope in this war they feel the same away. They treated us like human beings. But these were only the people who hadnt fought, the ones who had fought were gone, they were all dead. They could have been very bitter. They started having the German people, by memory, they didnt have costumes, but the way they dressed was just like costume anyway. They did operas by memory! And the music was so beautiful. I especially enjoyed the religious music. All these things happened. Then came the time, when they were sending the soldiers home. That was the real end of the war, for me. They had cleaned up and done everything possible as good ambassadors, and tried to help the people. We were never nasty to the people. We gave them chocolate, candy, everything. They had nothing. Like, I recall this little boy, that our lady who would come and help us had, she had this seven year old boy. He had red hair, and only one little outfit. We never saw how they lived of course. The G.I.s could go any place, to the black market and everything. Before we went to Europe, we were learning German and French, but we werent allowed to mix with the people. In fact, we only saw a few civilians where we worked. It was strict. We would go to work, and then come back to our village. Then came the end of all this. They started talking to us about, they wanted us to stay. Because then, we could go to school at any University, they had repaired the churches. We got to see the before and after. It was hard for us to decide. By then we had a little more experience. We loved the people, we didnt think of them as enemies. Some of the soldiers who had killed the German soldiers would take a watch and then give it to the black market to somebody, they would advertise, and some relative would come and pick up the watch. Thats how we were. Were still generous. Against us or for us, we still are. They decided it was time for us to go home, or keep serving there. At that time we had the points system, where if you had served so many months and all that. You had to earn those points before you came home. You didnt just say, "Hey Im ready to go home." So I had my points. I imagine most did, because no one took our place that I know of. Before that, the only ones who had gone overseas were nurses, not the WACs. We were the first ones to go. So we thought and thought. And I said, "Well, I want to be a teacher and finish my education. I want to go home." Because we hadnt had contact with our family since we had left, in over a year. I wanted to see my brothers. I understood them better too, how they were adjusting to civilian life and everything. I wanted to go, and I wanted to stay, because I loved the Army, I really did. I loved the discipline. It is dignity; its a privilege to serve your country. Especially women, because we were knew at the time. We were different. We were always very feminine. And they had respect for us as women. Finally, I decided I wanted to go home. They offered me all kinds of raises. I still wanted to go home. At the time I came home there was no G.I. Bill, they had already canceled it. But before I started, I came home, I was sent to Fort Sam, Houston depot, for discharge, 1946. So, it was in March. My military life actually started in 1943 at the military camp in Lordsburg. They didnt really count anything until you were out in the fields. But, I counted it, because it was very rigorous and by golly I was going to take credit for it. So, when I landed at Fort Sam Houston, they were very fast there, you can imagine all the coming and going boy, we stayed there, maybe one or two days and we were out. They gave us what money we had left. Mine was a little over a hundred dollars. A sergeant made eighty (?) dollars a month. Then I started my training at the University here in Las Cruces.
New Mexico State University?
It wasnt the University yet. It was the New Mexico college of Agricultural and Mechanical Art. It was a land university. I started right away, I was eager to get into teaching. I had so much information I was going to put to my students. (Laughter) Of course in the states, the G.I.s were just getting educated, and they re-instated the G.I. Bill. That was the best reward, besides the privilege of serving your country. My parents didnt have any money or anything, by then all the children had gone, I was the last one. It was just three miles to the University. I decided I have the perseverance; Im going to get my degree. So the G.I. Bill gave me three years, and I finished in three years. I worked day and night, exhausted myself. I got my degree. Then, I taught classes. Nobody paid me a nickel. My supervisor had just gotten out of college himself. I helped her out quite a bit. In recreation and education, that was my pathway to life. So I took sports, majored in languages. My main was an Associate of Science. I loaded myself, eighteen units a semester. Somehow I managed. Then when I got my degree, my supervisor had a job for me in Belen, New Mexico, heading a physical education program for the district, which was small, still is. I had about five hundred girls.
And thats pretty much what you did with you professional life?
No, that was the first part of my professional life. In fact, I was the first to get my degree in that. It wasnt a minor; it was actually a degree in physical education. This one we had to go to workshops. It was a poor college, especially during the war, the professors worked for peanuts. We did get our tuition. We had mainly G.I. students returning from the war. We were happy the government was still thinking about us. I finished, and then my supervisor got me a job... She got me this job in Belen. I was thrilled to start. In fact, I just took a little trip to Mexico to caress my poor brain, and then I was ready to go. Belen is three hundred miles from Las Cruces. I had to buy a car, I had never owned a car, and review what I was going to do there, before our meeting. In New Mexico, we meet a lot and decide what our philosophy is, what we are going to teach. I found out it involved more than just setting up the program, because I had the... [inaudible] They expect teachers to enter everything. I enjoyed it. I worked girl scouts, and the cheerleaders, and the games. I had to put on events, exhibitions so the public would know what I was teaching. Nobody paid anything; I didnt even have a budget except for the coach. The basketball and football coaches had budgets, but not me. So I had to work with a little pocket money and my head and what I had learned in the Army came in very handy. It gave me security and the ability to do things. Then, I stayed there three years. We were all very close. I would cook enchilada dinners and tacos and things for the weekend, we would go to Albuquerque and climb hills and visit the Indian monuments. There was so much culture up north; we couldnt get enough of it. We didnt really need too much money to do it either, because the Indians were happy to have us, and we brought those things into the class also. We played against Albuquerque, Silver City, and Belen. We didnt have too much money to supply. My girls got first in state. At the same time, I had to work with the public so that we were in good status with the community. If they dont like you, forget it. Like I said, I didnt even have a budget. But anyway, I took the same girls, and gave them a scholarship from the Catholic Church, and they would go to camps. They were wonderful. They didnt know too much about health, habits, and all that. When we started taking them to Albuquerque I taught them the rules of the games. There was so much to do. I enjoyed it; in fact I would get up at five oclock in the morning and play tennis, go back to the apartment, and then go work all day long.
I would like to ask you a few things about your military career. After you left the service, did you join any veterans groups?
Yes, I did. I joined the "Tumbleweeds" over here.
What are the tumbleweeds?
They were retired WACs. Not local, because there were no more locals here. I have been the only one native that is still alive here. The reason I left after about a year is because they wanted money to go to the memorial. I couldnt go to the memorial, I had to teach and work, and I didnt think that was fair. They wanted to go, so they could use their money.
Did you join any other veterans groups?
Yes, the American Legion. I left that one too, because now I cant go to the meetings or anything, but I enjoyed it also.
Are you still a member of any group?
No, not now. But I am aware of everything that they do. I read all the literature. I take part of the memorial... but here locally, I helped a lot. I gave them a thousand dollars in memory of my brothers who served. [inaudible] At the end of the memorial I was being interviewed by the radio station, and I was hurrying so I could get to the opening. And my friends, mainly the boys, that I grew up with, they took me over there. They were waiting for me.
Youre talking about the Veterans Memorial Park in Las Cruces?
Yeah, yeah. I tried to give them a flag that my father-in-law gave me from World War I, when he fought. He gave me all his medals and everything. He was also very active in the legion. My husband was an Eagle Scout. My father was always very militaristic; he played in the band and all that. So I had a great background for service. My brothers did too. Nobody in Las Cruces, I must say, I dont care if youre... [inaudible] but they didnt hesitate to go. A lot of them died. Our priests went, our doctors went, and the daughters went, voluntarily. We were all... New Mexico has a good record.
Were you able to keep in touch with the women you served with?
Oh yes, but only for the first few months. (?) So, we still helped each other. Some of them came to my home when I was teaching and they couldnt get a hold of me. My mother had no idea what they were talking about, wouldnt give them my address or anything. But... I know their names, I dont know their serial numbers but I know where they are from and all that.
Now, you mentioned how you were able to apply the lessons from your military experience as a teacher. Were there any other ways you think your military life has....?
My children, my religion, oh yes. What they didnt get in school, when I was a teacher there, they were the same people because it was such a small community. They went to the same church, they were all Catholic and Indian. I was an Indian and everything. I taught them their heritage and to admire theirs.... Because before they were discriminated against. My father himself was discriminated against.
Why were they being discriminated against?
Because... The Indians, they werent allowed to go to public school or anything like that. My father was born here in 1886, and if you were Indian you were sent to Oklahoma or Iowa or anyplace. We were prisoners, my ancestors were prisoners to the government. They werent allowed to go there, they were sent to Indian school. My father was to Chilocco (?), which means Indian [inaudible], in Oklahoma. They left their tribal habits and their culture, and that made them very bitter. My father managed to get into college. He played in the bands... [inaudible] He wouldnt talk too much about Chilocco. Anyway, they treated them very well over there. They didnt hit them or anything like that, but they wanted them to be Americanized. So, this Colonel Sutherland was in charge, I have the papers to prove it in my home. He was in charge of these Indian kids to send to Chilocco.
Im going to take you back to your military experience, if I may. Now, as you know, what you have told us is going to be information that students, scholars, and historians will be trying to use. Do have any words you would like to say, that you have not already...?
The military was a most rewarding experience for me. It made me more mature and allowed me to understand more cultures and people in and out of the military and overseas. Most important, even now, I was lucky to have served my wonderful country. I have retained many fond memories of my service which have I kept and shared with others. We endured a lot, which our soldiers did. But we did not kill. We did not expect some of the things we had to do, because we had been spoiled in the states, but our training proved to have endurance and perseverance. None of the women complained, they just accepted it as it was. We followed our soldiers and did whatever we could for them. Keeping them company, talking to them, since they hadnt seen an American woman for a long time. We had a lot of things to talk about, military life. The fact that we had done our job well. Every experience, good or bad, taught us, as I said, perseverance and morality and to be considerate of others. Because we are Americans and those are our ideals, always keeping our morale and our expectations, not of others, but of ourselves. Being educated, as far as a masters degree in education and so far, which I also consider a privilege to have accomplished, I also want to say that anybody can do it, if you have the right idea. Today for instance, of youth, they dont have too many ideals. But I must say, going back to my education as a... kindergarten, my teachers would come to my house if I was ill. One time I had chicken pox, my teacher would come and say, "How do you feel Lupe?" That was something important. Everybody was important. To be very humble, about life, because this is temporary, here. We are going to a bigger life. I feel that I have, in a little way, accomplished what I could so that I can meet my lord in peace. Instead of saying, "Well I just squandered this, and squandered that." In doing things, living is a [inaudible]. We must do what we can. I never leave anything for tomorrow. Of course, being a teacher you had to do that too. [inaudible] The things that you learned, not only from the military, but from life. Like I feel that I, have been a small town, poor Indian. My parents were poor because of what they had gone through, but I still admire them very much. I have their pictures and everything. We stayed together, regardless. My dad never made it down to Las Cruces, on my mothers side they had come from Spain and settled in Mexico. My mother was Mexican-Indian, a Yaqui. They have a story there... that the Germans had stolen her, and brought her to my grandfathers ranch.
You have a fascinating story, and I want to thank you for sharing it not only with me, but with all the people who are going to come to the Library of Congress. Thank you, Lupe. This completes our interview with Lupe Sierra Stamm.