McCarthy, Stacie (Interview transcript and video), 2019

Leroy-Rollins, Koty (Interviewer)

WKTV (Wyoming, Mich.)

Stacie McCarthy was born on March 10, 1985, in Framingham, Massachusetts, where she lived a normal suburban childhood. When her parents divorced, her father married her stepmother, who was in the Navy, and moved his family to Michigan. McCarthy was in her junior year of high school when she watched the televised 9/11 attacks on her school’s televisions. This influenced her later decision to join the Navy so that she could help protect people as well as escape a mundane life in Michigan. McCarthy enlisted into the Navy two years after graduating high school in 2005. Boot camp was very stressful and strenuous for her since she had preexisting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, making the yelling and vocal discipline difficult for her. After Boot Camp, she chose to become a Navy linguist and attended the Defense Language Institute in the Presidio of Monterey to study Korean. For her first assignment, McCarthy was deployed to Hawaii for three years where she worked as an information analyst between all military branches and civilian society. While stationed in Hawaii, she attended Kyung Hee University for six weeks in South Korea for a refresher course in Korean. McCarthy then reenlisted since she was still unsure about the direction of her career. For her second assignment, she learned the Tagalog language, a prominent dialect in the Philippines, for deployment to Tegale, Indonesia, for a year. After her assignment in Tegale, she returned to Hawaii for three years where she worked as an analyst for the Navy’s Direct Support program. She was also briefly injured after being hit, ironically, by a strong wave while visiting the beach. During her last year of deployment, McCarthy was transferred to the naval cruiser USS Shiloh where she traveled around the Pacific, docking in various countries across Southeast Asia. When she made the decision to leave the service, McCarthy felt it was the appropriate time for her to move on and pursue a higher education in music performance. She enjoyed reentering civilian life, even though she missed her military friends, her assured employment, and consistent pay. Reflecting upon her military service, McCarthy believed the Navy installed in her a greater work ethic, ability to endure stress, and a recognition and respect of authority. She also concluded that she would join the service again if given the chance and would recommend entering the service to anyone able and willing to commit.

2019-04

In Copyright

Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401.

Veterans History Project (U.S.)

McCarthyS2300V

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