King High Remembers Kelly Cobb, Geness Acosta, Alessandra Gargicevich-Almeida

On Friday, March 23, we interviewed an amazing, sincere, sweet, and kind-hearted lady named Ms. Lucy Whitely. This is her story.

Early Life Born on August 27 th, 1923 in North Carolina. Family of 8 children; 3 older brothers, and 4 sisters. Ms. Lucy was the third youngest child in her family. Lived in a big house with an African American cook/maid.

Early life Ms. Lucy applied to the University of Tennessee and was not accepted due to the fact that there was “too many veterans” who had already applied. Later attended Ohio North University at the age of eighteen. Transferred to a nursing school at Duke University “I was, and still am, a firm believer in education.”

Her older brother, George, went into the military, inspiring her to follow in his footsteps. At the age of 21, Ms. Lucy entered the service as a head nurse for the Navy. “It was just something that I felt I had to do.”

Life at War Ms. Lucy started at Fort Ben in Georgia where she did her 30 days of basic training. From there, she flew to New York and waited to be deployed. – Because of the wait, they watched many concerts, radio shows, and saw the Broadway musical Oklahoma.

Life at War From New York, she was flown to a little town in North Eastern Italy. She was in charge of the operation room with two German POW’s (prisoners of war) that worked with her as pre-med students. She claimed that the German POW’s were some of the best bakers she had ever met.

Life at War They lived in a designated area where half belonged to the British and the other half was stationed to America. – The half that the British owned/controlled, was the water system and the electricity. – Unfortunately, each floor was only allowed one water basin per day.

Life at War Ms. Lucy’s most memorable procedure was on three military G.I.’s who were cleaning up a gas spill when it soon caught on fire. These men were severely burned and taken to the facility where Lucy worked. They were kept in the operation room for many days and later shipped off to complete their service when they were in stable condition.

Entertainment in the War During her downtime, Ms. Lucy loved to have fun. – Shopping in Venice, going to the beach, sailing in the Adriatic Sea, spending time in the mountains, and dancing the night away. “I could dance all night long!” Ms. Lucy wrote letters to her mom and dad as often as she could.

Love Story Ms. Lucy took a two week trip to Switzerland with her boyfriend, Cliff, who she had been dating off and on. They took a train to Geneva, Switzerland, to see a basketball game where they met up with a group of friends. Within that group of friends was a man named Bill. – “He’s the one.”

Love Story Lucy and Bill soon became engaged. They wanted to get married as soon as possible, but they needed a civilian ceremony to be legally married. Because of this, they needed to purchase a marriage license which they paid for with money they earned from selling cigarettes.

Love Story They got married and had their honeymoon in Venice, Italy. Soon after they were legally married, they wanted to leave the service. – Bill was able to go, however, Lucy was unable to leave due to her position as head nurse in the operation room. – “I’m not going home without you,” said Bill. Ms. Lucy then changed her position to staff nurse which allowed her to head home with her husband. “He was the smartest man I ever knew… because he married me.”

Family Life Her and Bill had three wonderful daughters. – Their oldest daughter is a principle at a middle school, middle daughter is an assistant superintendent, and their youngest is married with four adopted children from Russia.

End of Service Bill and Ms. Lucy left the service together where they went to Fort Brad for discharge. Her last day of service was on her 23 rd birthday. – “Any time you enjoy something and it’s over, you always have a little bit of sadness.” Unfortunately, after forty years of marriage, they got divorced. – “I still love him and always will.”

Years After Service When she returned home, she received her Masters degree through the G.I. Bill. – *The G.I. Bill was a law that provided benefits for World War II veterans, including low-cost mortgages, payments of tuition, etc. In 1958, she moved to California where she lived in Dana Point for over 20 years. – She lived by the Marine Base where she volunteered and served dinners to the Marines. – “The Marines hold a special place in my heart.” Her priority was raising her children, although she continued to work in the medical field. At the age of 62, Ms. Lucy retired and was later offered a volunteer job at a hospital where she helped out for eight more years.

Years After Service At the age of 65, Ms. Lucy learned how to ski for the first time ever! On her 80 th birthday, she went on a three day rafting trip where she went white water rafting. She still enjoys dancing and having a good time with her friends.

Current Life Ms. Lucy continues to live at Air Force Village West, which is a retirement facility for those 60 or better and dedicated to the well being of a very special group of people - those who have served in the military. She volunteers at March Air Force where she makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for military personnel. “The thing I am most grateful for is that I’m able to do what I can do and still have a little smarts up here.”

We Love You Ms. Lucy! The three of us continue to keep in contact with Ms. Lucy and are very excited to have dinner with her this Thursday at her home. We are very honored to have this experience with such an inspirational lady.

“Friends are ones most precious possessions.” -Ms. Lucy Whitely