Joan, 95

(1/2) “I grew up in England and lived there for 21 years. I married an American pilot just after World War II. I met him at a party in my hometown. I was in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). I was too short to be a pilot, and so I was a teletype operator during the war. I was discharged from Air Force in Nov. 1944. I arrived in Boston in a ship convoy on March 6, 1945. It took one to two days get there. It was a very large ship. I can remember being concerned about being on deck one time when I looked out at a destroyer, and the Atlantic was so rough we kept losing sight of it because of the waves. On our ship were wounded soldiers and prisoners of war. There were also six wives on board. My husband I came together. After we arrived, we went directly to New York and stayed over night, and then we went to Pittsburgh by train. We arrived at East Liberty Station, and I saw black snow for the first time. I was very fortunate that my in-laws were very gracious people. They made an apartment for us on the third floor of their home. We lived in Highland park near the zoo for a little over a year and then we found a little cottage in the country, in Fox Chapel.”