Peabody Resident Felt Service Call Through Love of Country

This feature is part of the Patch series on Peabody veterans. To submit a calendar listing for a Peabody veterans event, or to nominate a local veteran to be featured, email taylor.rapalyea@patch.com

PEABODY, MA – Carolyn Van Dyke Spencer feels there's something inside her that called her to serve in the Marine Corps. She says patriotism – love of country – is something that runs in her family, all the way back to the Revolutionary War.

"Patriotism is in my blood, inherited from my ancestors," Spencer said.

The lifelong Peabody resident has an infectious laugh, and a habit of caring for others.

She was the oldest child, and helped raise her siblings.

So when she wanted to enlist, her parents didn't object. The night before she left, her father said, "You know you haven't signed anything yet," that she didn't have to go through with it. But Spencer's mind was made up.

"It was just right," she said. "It was the right thing to do."

In January of 1951, Spencer took the Oath of Enlistment, and became a Marine. She left Boston with four traincars of recruits, then a stop at DC where more cars were attached. They arrived at Yemassee, SC and all she remembers is a lot of shouting, rushing around, lining up, and then they were bused to Parris Island.

Her first day of active duty, and her last day of active duty were 40 years and 2 months apart.

After boot camp, Spencer was stationed at Parris Island. With her bookkeeping experience, she was assigned a post as a bookkeeper at the Officer's Club and at Special Services. She had hoped to do something "more Marine" but options for women were limited.

Spencer still remembers sitting with a group of girls in the barracks on Parris Island, spit shining their shoes with nylon stockings, talking for hours.

Spencer did get the opportunity later, in 1974 in the Marine Corps Reserve, to famfire (familiarization fire) the M16 rifle and 9mm pistol. "I finally felt like I was a Marine," Spencer said of the experience.

But before joining the reserves, Spencer was transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, NC, in the area auditor's office, auditing the financial records of the Post Exchange. Women weren't allowed to be attached to the auditor's office at the time, so they regularly sent a report classifying her as a temporary attachment. From there, Spencer went to the Officer's Club as a bookkeeper.

While at Cherry Point she was promoted to Staff Sergeant. As her enlistment was coming to an end, she received orders to MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii providing extend enlistment. Spencer extended for one year and was off to Hawaii.

But it wasn't all smooth sailing: Spencer found quickly that she wasn't a sailor. She and two other women Marines reported to the Naval Base Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay to go the the Marine Corps Air Station in Kaneohe Hawaii. They boarded the USNS General Barrett at Oakland and were on their way. As they were passing Alcatraz, Spencer felt the motion sickness taking over.

"I was told it is just the ground swells and that it will get smoother when we got further out," she said. "Well, if it got smoother I never noticed."

Spencer was set back on her feet in sick bay, and continued to Hawaii with no more issues. There, she worked at the Post Exchange: first in the warehouse and inventory control, then in an office on the sales floor, tracking sales numbers and placing special orders.

It was in Hawaii that she met Richard Spencer, another Marine. They got married and had a son, Donald, and while the marriage didn't last, the two remain friends. He was the one who encouraged Spencer to enlist in the Marine Reserve.

Nineteen years after leaving active duty, in November 1974, Spencer joined the reserves at the Naval Air Station in South Weymouth. She had to wait to join because her son wasn't 18 yet, and when she joined she was assigned to Personnel Administration. Over the next 16 years, Spencer would do one weekend a month at NAS South Weymouth, two weeks of Active Duty Training yearly at MCAS El Toro, CA, MCAS Yuma, AZ, and in Weymouth.

Spencer would eventually be promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and Master Sergeant before her retirement in 1990.

Two months after her retirement, in February 1991, Spencer was activated for Desert Storm to be part of the replacement troops for the first ninety day casualties. Donald, then 35 years old, drove his 59-year-old mother to Weymouth to drop her off for war, an image Spencer still laughs at to this day.

"I think it's hilarious," she said.

The next day, Spencer reported to Camp Pendleton, CA, and was assigned as Administrative Chief to the Adjutant of Warrior Training Command where she worked for the next six weeks.

These days, Spencer keeps busy as a major part of Peabody's veteran community. She has held offices in the Marine Corps League, the Peabody Veterans Council, the American Legion, and the Fleet Reserve Association. She instructs the Senior Ladies Drill Team at the Senior Center, in which there are a couple openings.

She remains close with several women from her time on active duty.

"If you didn't see each other in 15, 20 years, it didn't matter," she said. The friends still talk like they're back in the barracks on Parris Island, shining their shoes.

Top photo by Taylor Rapalyea/Patch Staff

Any women over the age of 60 interested in joining the Ladies Drill Team at the Senior Center can email Carolyn at carspencer2@verizon.net.