[Music] hello Old Bridge and welcome to another episode of Council Corner We're very excited about the new year and the plans for this program I'm so glad you can
join us and especially because we have a special guest here today Phyllis Jones New Jersey Ambassador from the Military Women's Memorial And I want to thank you for joining us and thank you for your service Thank you for inviting me It's truly an honor Tell us a little bit
about the Women's Memorial A lot of people are interested They really are The women's memorial is some people think it's hard to find but it's at the gateway to Arlington Cemetery and
they have this big wall that they converted and built upon and it's you go in there We have every from Molly Pitcher no matter who served when they
served You type up a little thing and that's one of the ambassador's duties to try to get veterans past present or in the future if you're going if you're in there now or if they're deceased if your
family member is deceased You fill out a form You can even go online to the Military Women's Memorial and you fill out this form It's free And you when you go there you can type in your name and
it comes up on a screen and you can see what your story is because women our stories are never told and they will die with us You want to pass that That's important And I think it's
so amazing The roles have changed naturally over the years as far as women veterans and their roles but they do have those stories that are are really special Well actually I was looking up uh reading about it and I don't think
when like that some people pause and don't think of the how women were involved actually from the Revolutionary War over 3 million women the roles are different but they're so essential to make everything work together and to
function so you know magnificently you know during military times And so there's over three million women and I think it's very important to see how important women were in the military whether on every level and um I I think
it's wonderful Tell us about yourself and your military experience Okay Well I was born and raised in Cleveland Ohio and I went into the service directly after high school My parents couldn't afford college and that's a big thing
even now again And uh I didn't want to sit behind a desk for eight hours So I saw a commercial on TV and I said "Hm I can travel I love to travel." So I went in I didn't want to go in the Navy
because I don't like water and swimming and that's out Yeah that was out So I went it I asked for the Air Force and when I told my mom I joined the Air Force she laughed She said "Well you're you'll never get in You had a heart
murmur when you were a baby from rheumatic fever." And I said "Okay." Well I passed the physical No murmur was gone And six weeks later I was in Lackland Air Force Base Texas in basic
training And they do tear you down to build you back up of what you should be He was so young Yes You know I mean right out of high school That I got to give you a lot of credit Truly young Well you know a lot of the um all the
boys were out of my graduating class They were all drafted because of Vietnam right and uh then I was stationed at Travis Air Force Base and I was put in the 60th Aerial Port Squadron which
helps land the planes and load the planes off and give the guys make sure they had their shot records their meals and everything and uh would go out there and help land the planes and stuff Now
it's another life It's in it's so interesting just from a commercial how that can change your life and that you're exposed to things I think it's wonderful that people don't realize what one incident can open the door for so many things and expose you things that
you would never imagine doing Phyllis please tell us about your rank and everything that's involved with that Okay Um after basic when in basic you're considered basic nothing Then you get
your first stripe after six weeks if you pass all the courses and go to your permanent base Uh and then you have to go back to college you or not to college but they give you certain parameters
that you have to meet and you have to study for and I became a airman second class and that's what I got out as because I got married but I really should wanted to stay in longer but it
wasn't to be Um now they've changed the rank and what my rank would have been it would now be considered an airman first class So that's what they do I mean they've changed it They've realized
because I had college through them Uh some some college through them So and that you have to keep you have to keep striving for another stripe and another stripe It depends on what you do And what base were you at travis California
We had a Mac Planes which is the Military Airlift Command on one side and the other side was a sack base the strategic air command And um you see those coming They took off every 30 20
30 seconds constantly morning noon and night And uh we had planes leaving Oh I'd say every half hour Wow And 99% of them went on the way to Vietnam from Travis It was like being a
stewardist We would load the planes I wrote them all their all their names down and their ranks and we loaded them up on the planes and then I would give them their box lunches to go because they had different stops to make and
then I would do it landing the planes I spent one week in the control tower where they taught us how to land these planes And I wouldn't try it now but I mean I could land a plane I could be a control tower I still got a license I
think somewhere But uh it's something that you learn these things They teach you these things and it was a very interesting time and then you did boring things like you know you had to load the
baggage sometimes So you were an intricral part to make it all work Everyone has to work Everybody is everybody is they had a role You everybody had a role I mean we couldn't do that if if the communications didn't work We couldn't do that if the
mechanics didn't fix the planes You know everybody had a role and if you didn't do your job you were gone You know they they don't put up so important I mean you know lives are resting on that this is it It wasn't something that could be done just
held to Skelter It was important It was serious work Yeah Had to be orchestrated just so Yes it was very on time every time Mhm So it was good Yeah It's interesting Truly is You know people don't think of it on that level how
everything plays together Yeah You have to keep going and you My mother came to visit us during Christmas and she says "When do you get off?" And I says "Ma we work 12 on 12 off You tell me when I can
see you I gotta sleep in that time So you had to make time in between all that You learned how to cope Yes You learned and organize your time And those are all skills though that you bring with you then into the future Oh yes So when you leave you have a lot of new found skill
Absolutely And it sticks with you forever Time management Time management It does It sounds that way Yes It's it's really truly amazing And then I got married in those days when if you got married you
had to get out Oh really they didn't want you to have children Different right because that was a barrier that we had Yeah And uh so I returned to Cleveland and I worked for local uh airlines and um trucking companies and
um my husband then passed away and uh I had we had a daughter and um now I've been married uh for 38 years And it's you know been wonderful We've moved around because our daughter got married
We moved to um Tom's River in 2002 right after 911 and uh from there we moved to Freehold and we had a mother daughter for 10 years and uh we stayed to help raise the kids because they both worked in the
city And uh so my husband and I we just took care of the kids got them to school and you know loving grandkids two two wonderful boys and one's out of college now and one's a first year in Dukane
University in premed And now we're in Manalapin Very nice Wonderful Yeah So they're doing all great things Yes Well you pass things on You could tell you're very vivacious and very involved and active and it's very important Well you know you have to you have to stay busy
no matter how old you are That's an amazing story It really is how you especially how you got started Your decision to go into the military you know through that watching a commercial It's just it's Yeah You know people amazing Absolutely amazing You know a
lot of people think the military is just you're going to war but you're learning so much so many skills so many life lessons and everything I think it's really very important Yes Basic training They have you in tests and my one
roommate that I was really really close with she went into communications after all these tests that they give you they tell you they put you where our strong suits are right she went into
communications Uh I had another one that went to some place uh for uh she was good at fixing trucks and stuff So she went into that area Yeah Yeah And uh they put me I was good at doing
organizations with passengers and stuff So that's where I got into transportation Yeah Yeah Well this is what they do Like you said though they train you They find your strengths and they you know play to your strengths so that you can become the best person
possible So it's a very you know a very big lifelong experience It was a very good I can't even think of it right now because I'll cry But um in July of 1966
we sent our just my unit sent a 100,000 men to Vietnam Wow Thank you And we got the presidential citation for efficiency and movement of the troops to South Vietnam And I'm very very proud that we
did that And one of the cathartic things that got me was just this past year after Veterans Day we were outside of uh Applebees and uh a group of men were
talking and I said "Well I'm a veteran." And we started to talk and he says "You sent me over." Oh my goodness And he remembered when I told him Travis and stuff I hugged him
and I said "Thank you." Someone I sent came back Wonderful You know and that was very cathartic for me because I know a lot of the guys I sent over stayed It's sad It's so It's such a difficult thing It really is But now I'm in other
veterans things I'm in the Vietnam Veterans of America chapter 12 the Manalopin Advisory for Veterans Committee I'm on the uh committee for the uh Manalopin veterans uh and the
Republican committee uh uh for district 28 in Manalapin And so we stay busy Yes you're very involved The time that you spend doing all of this volunteering for all of this that's that's a lot of time I mean there's people don't realize you
know how much is involved in it I mean it's such worthy causes but it's a lot it's a lot of you know a lot of work Well it's it's good to volunteer and get out and especially at veterans our times
Have you ever been back to Travis yes Um in the 80s I drove out west with my then husband and um went past the base and wanted to go in and I said "No I
want the memory to stay I just didn't want to go back." And uh cuz some of it was bad some of it was good and I want to remember that's life That's life But it's you know something now if I was
18 I'd be at the recruiter's office signing my name right to go back because I know what to look for I know what I want and nobody's going to stop me Well what you did was essential also
They needed people to do the jobs that women did back then And um you know you made a difference I I hope I did And um like I said that story when I saw somebody
that I don't remember but he remembered the girls at Travis and that was very cathartic and really really was It helps close that type of chat Yeah Because so
many of them didn't come back You're watching Oldbridge Townships Council Corner with special guest Phyllis A Jones We'll be back in a moment [Music]
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[Music] We're back with Council Corner and here today we are with our special guest Phyllis A Jones This is so I you was you know I really think this memorial is something that more people should know about and participate and have their
loved ones as you said if they have someone please register them Yes And we have a on our website for the women's memorial all listed every state
and the bottom three states I'm sad to say is New Jersey Oh wow We only have 112 women registered in the entire Oh sure there's many many more than that
Every time I say something to somebody they say "Well I didn't know it was there I didn't know about this." And I'm saying "I'm passing out all this literature." Go online There's a QR code that they have It doesn't cost anything You don't
even have to mail it in But we only have 112 Even Alaska has over 2,000 registered My goodness And it's amazing you know uh South Carolina has got uh she's in the 400s already and uh we've
been there since 1997 and I'm a charter member since then and we we're trying to get the word out to get your story told And that's when they're starting this new program called
Her Story The H is for honor The E is to educate and empower and the R is to remember We need to remember our stories because we made a difference We want to
hear your story Some of us did nothing but answer a telephone Some of us may have done paperwork But it's still your story Whatever you did whatever you tried to do it's your story We need to
hear from you We want you to come to us to call us to text us to email us to go online to the Military Women's Memorial and just tell us how you felt after you
said that oath and what happened to you What did you do during your stay in the service once again can you tell us where women can go to sign up to tell their story military women Yes they can go to
www.women'smemorial.org Okay Very good Thank you Thank you so much Well I know a few women who served I'll make sure that they you know if they didn't register already that they'll make sure that they do They're from New Jersey Yeah And how did you get involved with this organization in 1995
I was in Ohio and I there was an article in the newspaper Remember newspapers you used to get them in the evening Miss them I miss them But you liked it Yeah And there was an article that they broke
ground for a military women's memorial in Washington DC I looked at it you know and cut it out about a year or so later they were asking in another article if you were a veteran if you served uh sign
up so I did and I became a charter member because I was one of the first thousand that joined I guess and um so that's where it started way back then That's all it takes people to get involved And the first thing I did was I
every obituary that said mentioned a woman that served I would cut it out and send it to them so they could send it in and talk to the family to get the family to get their her story in
So it started in Ohio with Mary Rose Then uh President Reagan signed it into law in 1986 I think it was And then they started you know with the architecture and the grounds So since 1997 I think it
was Yes Yeah And it was a female and a male that decided how the memorial would be built So there's a female involved in the building of it too So So I know down in Mammoth County there was Fort Mammoth
there There's also um you know other bases in the state Do you reach out to them to see if they can help i can't go I can go to the commissary I can go to the PX but unless somebody approaches me or I
can say to one person in uniform on the base I need permission from the base to do that And I do have some feelers out I've met the uh the comedant of uh Maguire and um I haven't heard back yet
but I'm sure I will Yeah they had closed Fort Mammoth but there are other bases So I thought that would be a good venue to reach out to And I'm going to be going to um talk to a few other places And I'm also going to the uh Brigadier
General Doyle Cemetery and go scroll through those records for women who've passed and their records aren't being told yet Mhm So it there's a lot of venues but for some reason New Jersey
hasn't gotten into the forefront of it yet and we really need Well I hope that changes I hope it changes Well hopefully maybe some you know through some of the legislators too as well you know maybe have have a push that way to try to
bring it back to their hometown so to speak Yes You know and try to talk it up as well I'm going to be talking to Senator Owen Henry and he's been a doll I see him on different occasions and he is going to uh help me get the word out
for for in the legislation So be very active with that I'm sure Yeah Yeah And that that would be a very good venue Great So since you've been involved when did you start to be involved in with it in New Jersey have you been you know see
numbers going up or Yes Well I I get to the websites and then when I saw that we only had 112 and I called and I asked for some pamphlets I said "Every place I go I
could be handing out some pamphlets." And then one of the ladies that I talked to down there one of the directors says "Let me put you in touch with Jan Edmmonds our uh ad ambassador coordinator."
And with that she called me and after a few phone calls she says "How would you like to be an ambassador for New Jersey?" And I says "As long as I can do what I've been doing but on a more professional level that would be great."
I says "Sign me up." So that's it Here I am There you are Well this is the catalyst for us Yes And we'll reach out to people that we know that served also And it's it's just wonderful I know it's over the bridge the entrance to the
Arlington Cemetery Yes The architect It's beautiful Yes it is Welld deserved Yeah And you just go around the the lips and go around it and you can walk right in and they take donations If if you want to give a donation there's a gift
shop You can buy things you They have all kinds of memorials uh and window dressing type things where you can go Every service branch is is categorized
and and shown and it's just wonderful what they've done They've collected hundreds of thousands of of artifacts from families and stuff that they can show but they can't show them or can't
tell you about them if it your name's not there Right So those that's the ones that that are tough And there is one other thing I'd like to mention Um on Netflix is a movie called The 68
I encourage everybody to watch it What it is is the 6LE8 In the military the triple 8 is 888 It's a squadron and it was mostly of AfricanAmerican squadron
what they had to go through And they went overseas They were given to sort mail Oh yes I watched that Did you incredible what they did Tyler Perry directed it and I don't understand why a
film like that doesn't make it in the cinema because it was a superb movie Yeah that one was phenomenal with the mail room and everything How people got in contact with uh pe their their sons uh that were over there that they
thought there was no communication and they had the delivery of the mail huge hangers full full of mail and they gave them six months to do it They did it and they did it in three and it they no one
said that they would do it It was so wrong but they did it and I mean at the end of the movie I wanted to stand here They proved themselves for sure They certainly did Yeah And there's another one I'm not sure if it's on
Amazon or something but it's called Hello Girls all about World War I and the girls that went overseas to make long-distance phone calls And there are some great women movies
out there and I think that needs to be told also So that's something else that that's how you preserve that's how you preserve the stories Yeah Well it's so nice from being a teenager seeing a commercial to to becoming in the New
Jersey ambassador now It's a wonderful journey I'm really pleased to be that and I hope I do it well I have no doubt Oh absolutely They can reach out to you Correct Yes Yes They can uh reach out to me at
pbjones888yahoo.com or pbjones88 aticloud.com And then you're meeting with uh Senator Henry and I'm sure he'll be you know very informative on how to get the word out too Yes And I'm also meeting with
the American Association for University Women at St Peters in Freehold to speak about the barriers I have a person coming with me She's a Marine and she will be talking about the barriers that
she had to face Yeah to face because of being a Marine and that's what I've been talking about the barriers that women have Like you said if you had children or if you got married then you had leave So that's so changed I mean exactly
different Well now you can be pregnant in uniform so that's a different And now we had that all female crew up in space So we've done a lot since Molly Pitcher and I've been in
Yeah it's amazing No it's good to remember like you said and and never forget No you can never forget You can never forget all the sacrifice that people have made to make this country Apparently I heard from one person tell me "Ladies it's not a glass
ceiling It's a cellophane ceiling and you can just go right through it." It's true Very good So you can just keep on going Sky's the limit That's it What is it now the moon and Mars is coming up
Just set a goal and go for it There you go Exactly Lady power Thank you so much Well thank you both for having me Well thank you It was a pleasure Thank you for joining us in another episode of Council Corner with special guest Phyllis Jones
Ambassador of New Jersey for the Women's Military Memorial Thank you so much for being here today We really appreciated having you as a guest Well thank you both for having me I really appreciate it Oh it's a pleasure It was a pleasure
So interesting so informative Thank you everyone for joining us and please look forward to future episodes of Council Corner
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