Oral History Interview with Gladys Winkleman, July 31, 2005

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Gladys Winkleman. Winkleman was born on 10 March 1919 in Lytle, Texas. She met her husband, Meryl, while working at her parent’s restaurant after she graduated from high school. They were married on 16 October 1939. Her husband worked for Exxon before the war and enlisted in the Marines in October 1942. After her husband enlisted she moved back in with her parents. Before her husband was shipped overseas (February/March 1943) she went to see him in San Diego. She started working at Kelly Field after her husband left the States. At Kelly Field, Winkleman worked on the flight line as a checker on a wide variety of airplanes including the B-24, B-25, B-17 and flew as a civilian on several. She was in flight test and worked on planes that had come back from overseas and were being repaired before being sent back out. Throughout the interview, Mrs. Winkleman provides insights into what she did at Kelly Field and what the working conditions were like. When her husband came back from overseas, he was sent to Parris Island and Mrs. Winkleman went there to be with him, resigning from her job at Kelly Field. She tells stories of having to move every few days and what life was like at Parris Island