Esther Smith
There were not any jobs, there was a recession / depression and how I had attempted to find a job without any success and I did try to find employment without any success and the military was my last resort and it disciplined me and grounded me.
Esther Smith was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma the third child of five born to James and Mary Elizabeth Smith. When Esther was 4 years old the family moved to Anadarko, OK and lived there for two years. The family then returned to Guthrie, OK for a short time and then they later settled in Clinton, Oklahoma which is where Esther received her formal education. While attending school and growing up in Clinton, Oklahoma Esther’s always had alive for writing and reading. She spent many hours at the Public Library in Clinton. After graduating from High School Esther attended SOSU in Weatherford, Okla. majoring in Sociology / Psychology. After graduating from SOSU in 1974 Esther enlisted in the US Navy and served on Active Duty for 3 years. She then returned to her Alma Mata at SOSU where she received her M.ED in School Counseling in 1978 and she also received her Teaching Certificate in Social Studies in Dec. of 1979. After completing her second set of prerequisites at SOSU she began teaching in Frederck Okla. in January of 1980 and she currently holds that position at the present time. Esther’s also spent 20 years in the Naval Reserve and she’s traveled extensively statewide as well as abroad, Europe, Canada and Mexico. At the present time she’s working on her second book which she hopes to publish sometime in 2005 with the hope of returning to Europe as one of her future travel plans.
We worked from 0730 to 1600 and when I was in the Enlisted Personnel Office, I could occasionally get off some days a few hours early, but not in that Admin Office, the only way I could get off early was to take leave, have some type or Medical or Dental appointment, or if I had watch at the barracks which lasted for 24 hours. Once you made rate you (the women) had to stand barracks watches and you’d have to sleep in the transient room, just in case there was an emergency. Standing watch at the barracks wasn’t hard, it just required you to be awake for longer than normal and some of the ladies that worked at the other squadrons got the next day off because they had humane supervisors, but I never did because the people in Admin felt 2 to 4 hours of sleep was all I needed, so after being up all night, I still had
to work the next day all day at the barracks and then between 4:00 and 4:30 we’d secure, it was only then that I got a chance to get caught up on sleep and by that time I’d been up for a total of 48 hours most of the time and always on 2 to 4 hours of sleep. My deception of the Navy was deepening each day and I was getting to the point where I could either reenlist or get out and if I did I’d return to school in the fall of the following year 1977. It was just another stumbling block I’d become familiar with in the past and more and more the word showed its ugly face to me more times than I can count and that word was the big “D” DECEPTION. It was or it had become one of my good friends and it was always somewhere near to keep me in line, remind me or to make sure I was unhappy, or miserable, it played on my emotions in a serious type of way.
I really missed working with Mr. U., but he was due to be transferred to a ship in a couple of months, and there was no more chain in my links of support and I wouldn’t have anyone and believe you me I didn’t have that many. I told him what I thought and also that I’d miss him because he was such a nice person, one of the extreme few I’d met while serving in this Navy. Mr. U. was transferred to a ship in Virginia and a new Career Counselor took his place, Mr. K. We did some remodeling in the Admin Office and it was much more easily assessable to the Commanding Officer’s Office as well as the Executive Officer.
