Women Who Serve feature
Story by Leah Power • Photographed by Laura McBryde Gainey
Maureen
MURPHY
CHERYL SMITH AND MAUREEN MURPHY JOINED THE MILITARY looking for
something: direction, employment, adventure… The list could go on. Like the other
military women in this month’s issue, they found them all. However, there was one
thing that the two never expected to find - family. I don’t mean a long lost twin or
second cousin twice removed. As Cheryl and Maureen shared their story with me,
I realized that they found something much more unique. They found each other,
and through their time together traveling around the world, the two young women
became a part of each other’s family.
Like so many others before her, the military provided Maureen with an escape
from the hard life that she would have faced if she stayed in Illinois. Interestingly
enough, Maureen explained that it was her life in Illinois that led her to seek out the
Navy. “I always loved the thought of the ocean. But, growing up so far away from
it, I never really got to experience it the way in which I had dreamed. So, the Navy
just seemed like the best way to live out my dreams of sailing the high seas.” After
signing on the dotted line, Maureen was on her way to Orlando, Florida, for basic
training, which she described as being “physically and mentally hard, but quickly
forgotten.”
Around the same time, Cheryl was fresh out of college with a degree in sociology
and was struggling to find work. Unlike her soon-to-be companion, Cheryl’s decision wasn’t something of necessity but of the search for direction. The only question for her was which branch to choose. As she described her love for the open air
and the high seas, it became clear that her heart laid with the Air Force and/or Navy.
“The Air Force had a waiting list, so I took it as a sign and decided to go with the
Navy. It’s funny, though, because my sisters always jokingly tease me that I joined
the Navy because I liked the uniforms better, but this is definitely not true!” Cheryl
was soon on her way to Orlando for basic training as well. “I remember being incredibly nervous and scared. They put me on a bus from Columbia, South Carolina,
to Orlando with a bunch of other scared recruits. I’d never gone off on my own like
this, so I had to get used to it. When we arrived in the middle of the night, we were
told to put on our uniforms and pack up our civilian clothes so that they could be
mailed back home. But, the real shock came when they made me cut my hair. At the
time, I thought I would be able to wear it up in a bun or a pony tail. However, this
was the first year haircuts were required for females. I didn’t realize it for a while,
but they were slowly stripping us of our individuality. I didn’t hear my first name
again for a very long time.”
Eventually, the eight weeks came to a close and like Maureen, Cheryl was shipped
out to Technical School Training in Data Processing. Interestingly enough, though,
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&
Cheryl
SMITH
while the two were sent to Orlando and were trained in the same field, it wasn’t
until they were stationed on a small base in Norfolk, Virginia, at their first duty station that the two found each other. As the two reminisced on their time together in
Norfolk, I learned from Cheryl that some of their most precious memories of that
time tied back home in Hartsville, South Carolina. “I normally went home whenever
I could to see my family. One weekend, I invited Maureen to tag along to give her
a break from constant life in the barracks. I knew my family would be fine with it
since they always graciously welcomed any extra people that I brought home, but I
never would have guessed how much would eventually be built on that one weekend. Maureen had a rough life growing up, so when we arrived in Hartsville, she was
amazed by my family and she became incredibly fond of my dad.” During that trip
and the ones to follow, Cheryl’s father made it his mission to introduce Maureen to
every type of Southern food available, to which she eagerly welcomed. Well, almost.
One of Cheryl’s fondest memories is of her father chasing Maureen around the kitchen with a spoonful of grits, unsuccessfully trying to get her to open her mouth. “She’s
never eaten grits to this day!” recalled Cheryl, to which Maureen quickly responded,
“If I didn’t eat them for him, then I’m not eating them for anyone!”
After being stationed in Norfolk for a time, the two set sail for Italy, where they
would create more incredible memories. While stationed in Italy, the girls lived with
a friend on an Italian farm. Cheryl shared, “One of the funniest stories we’ve shared
together is our first Easter in Italy. Since the three of us were living together on the
farm around the time of Easter, our landlords decided to invite us to eat Easter
lunch with them. We didn’t speak much Italian and they spoke even less English.
The three of us thought it would be a nice gesture to take them a traditional Easter
basket. We even purchased a small stuffed bunny so we could act out having the
bunny deliver them their gift. Early that morning, we saw a real bunny in a small
cage by the kitchen. We, of course, assumed that their children had received a bunny for Easter. We thought maybe the Italians had a similar tradition to ours… Well,
they don’t. At lunch that day, we ‘hopped’ over with our gift and after much laughter
and confusion, they somewhat understood what we were trying to tell them about
the Easter Bunny in America and how he delivers goodies to children on Easter
morning. After about a three-hour meal of delicious food, much of which we were
not familiar with, we asked if we could see their new pet. We should have known
something was up when everyone around the table started to exchange confused
looks. We continued to ask and finally picked up the stuffed bunny we had brought
over to get our message across. They looked at each other quite amused and proceeded to tell us we had eaten the Easter Bunny for lunch!” CONTINUED
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