Narrator: Ruth Maiden Interviewer: KC Haas    KC: How were women treated by the male soldiers?  RM: With respect. If they wanted a date with us, they had to behave. We were in a separate area; we didn't have to put up with them being next door. We had our area patrolled at night by armed guards; we had our own women who did the cooking and if the men wanted to date us, they had to behave. (laughing)   KC: Did you ever see any discrimination based on gender?  RM: No. No, we would have flattened them….In World War II, [the women and men] were separate. And it was better. From then on it went down hill. They integrated the women with the men and I wouldn't have had any part of that…I don't believe that's right. I don't think women can compete on the same basis of men. I don't think it is in the best interest of women to be in with the men and have to compete with them. However,  it may work;  I don't know.     Narrator: Bettie Lerdall Interviewer: Josh Sievers    JS: How were women treated by male soldiers or male personnel?  BL: We were ridiculed at times, the men would call us, shall I say, "B.A.M's"   which is as they say "Broad Ass Marines" and of course that isn't very   complimentary. So they would say "FIRE ONE, BAM!"… and it wasn't fun, but that was   an experience that didn't happen very often. JS: Were there any men in the military which were welcoming to the women?  BL: You know because of my job and being in a restricted area the only   time I saw men was when I dated, so I wasn't harassed a lot. JS: So you weren't in the situation where you were surrounded by men   everyday?  BL: No, not working with them you see. So the harassment rarely happened   to me but I saw it happen to other women occasionally and I heard stories where   women were harassed a bit, at least more then would be allowed in the military   today.   Narrator: Dorothy Kachur  Interviewer: Mike Petrielo    MP: How were you treated by male soldiers?  DK: Oh very well! They were pleased to have us. You know, because then they had somebody else to mingle with. And like you said they treated us all very well and I guess I know a lot of the girls went out on dates.  I never wanted to date much, not even when I was single. MP: You also said before that there were rumors that some of the guys said that the WAC's were there only for sex and stuff like that. Did you see any harassment, you know, that could have validated that?  DK: No, no I didn't. Like I said I was with a nice bunch of girls really.