Francine Sorensen, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Frances Merrill, April 14, 2004

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FRANCINE OREN EN pril 14, 2004 F : I ate in the mess hall when I lived on base. Breakfasts were pretty good. I can rem mber for dinner our standard joke was-it was "breaded surprise.' That's what we used to call it because we never knew quite what the meat was. But it was standard issue to have a bottle of catsup on the table. And our standard practice was, if you put enough catsup on it, you can eat anything. FHM: And did you find that to be true? FS: That's exactly what we did if it was something that we just could not identify, had no clue. You just put on enough catsup and you can eat anything. FHM: So, at the place that you worked in San Diego they did have a mess hall facility there? FS: Yes. When I lived in the barracks I ate in the mess hall. When I was able to afford it I got an apartment of my own, and lived off base, and then took care of my own food after that. FHM: Did you ever feel any pressure, or stress, in the military? FS: We were pressured to do a lot of work. As women in the military we were kind of trained to prove ourselves that we were valuable members of a team. There was resentment towards the women. Particularly, the men would come in on the big ships, and they'd bring all their payroll records in and work out of our office while their ship was in port. And we would always hear, "Well, if you weren't here, maybe I could have had shore duty, instead of having to be on a ship." And, you know, there was that kind of resentment. So, it was like, "You better prove that you're worth it. You better perform adequately so that we can see that you're worth this bother to have you here." FHM: Did you ever have any negative experiences of losing someone's pay record, or ... ? 8