Esther Gleaton
Women’s Army Corps (WAC), 1966-1969, Vietnam
Georgia Air National Guard, 1974-1976

Esther Gleaton
Women’s Army Corps (WAC), 1966-1969, Vietnam
Georgia Air National Guard, 1974-1976

Esther Gleaton joined the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1966, because it offered her opportunity to travel beyond her Atlanta, Georgia, hometown and made her eligible to receive the G.I. Bill for college. She needed her parent’s permission, which they denied until—bags packed—she gave them no choice. After avoiding cooking school, Gleaton was sent to clerk-typist school. Returning to Georgia for duty, she processed Soldiers going to Vietnam. After a year, she begged for reassignment. “I wanted to see the world,” Gleaton recalls. Volunteering to go to Vietnam offered that opportunity. She was assigned to the WAC Detachment at Long Binh, South Vietnam, as a clerk-typist with the highest security clearance. It was not uncommon for a jeep to fetch her from WAC housing at odd hours to do emergency typing. Gleaton recalls being confined to the WAC Detachment area for several days after Long Binh was attacked and the base penetrated by the Viet Cong. Gleaton left the WAC in 1969, and used the G.I. bill to attend college, eventually obtaining a master’s degree in social work, and continued traveling around the world.