Marietta Estopinal Baham was born in Arabi, Louisiana. The depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression] was very sad. She walked three miles to and from school. Her father was elderly and was 20 years older than her mother. She went to school in Arabi. She thought the schools in Saint Bernard were good. As a child, Baham stayed indoors, did homework, and played games like hide and seek. She enjoyed reading and had many books. Baham had a sister who played with dolls. She enjoyed her life as a kid. She was on her way home one evening from a friend's house in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] when she saw armed guards outside of Jackson Barracks [Annotator's Note: Louisiana National Guard base in New Orleans]. Baham worked at the barracks and asked why they were there. The soldiers told her about the attack at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. The guards walked her through the barracks so she could get home. The base was locked up after they passed through. She was the last person allowed through the base without a pass. The following day, she went to work and was told not to talk to anyone. When she had free time, she would go on the levee and read books. One day, a colonel who would talk to her asked her to work at Jackson Barracks.

Marietta Baham worked in the mail and communications department [Annotator's Note: at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans, Louisiana]. She would go through mail and deliver it to the intended recipient. Baham loved all of the people she worked with and worked for. It was a sad situation they all had to work through. She was always excited about her work. She enjoyed attending USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] events. At the American Legion, she would dance with GIs [Annotator’s Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier]. She rode the streetcar [Annotator's Note: an electric rail car similar to a trolley] from Arabi [Annotator's Note: Arabi, Louisiana] to New Orleans in a ball gown. When Baham was not at USO events, she would write letters to 132 GIs. She promised to write to all of them, even when they did not think they would survive. She would receive a black orchid from an unknown source, but they stopped coming after the war. Baham received The Stars and Stripes [Annotator's Note: military newspaper], but her mother would get rid of them. She received more proposals from GIs then she could handle. When a soldier did not write a letter back, she figured they died. Baham thinks the letters helped their moral because she did not talk about the war. Some of the soldiers that went to the dances would get cocky after a few drinks. Some would call her when they returned to the United States. She talked to soldiers at the cafeteria when she was at work. In the mail room, Baham had to send materials to the draft board. General Fleming [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Raymond H. Fleming, chief of the National Guard Bureau and adjutant general of Louisiana] would have to give permission to send out telegrams. One time, she received a telegram that General Fleming's son was killed in action. Baham knew him, so the news stunned her. She brought the letter to a major, who then brought it to the general. Some of the officers wanted to learn how to dance, so Baham taught them. She taught General Fleming how to waltz. She thought he was a nice man. When she would deliver his mail, they would talk. She enjoyed her work, but did not like some of the machines that would get her dirty. Baham loved the people she worked with.

Marietta Baham worked at Jackson Barracks [Annotator's Note: Louisiana National Guard base in New Orleans, Louisiana] from 1941 until 1945. During that time, she worked in the mail room. He remembers the German POWs [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] that did maintenance work on base. They tried to make eye contact with the girls, but that was against the rules. The Italians worked in the mess hall. Baham remembers the food being good. The Italians would slip love letters to her under her tray. Baham had the camp doctor read them to her, but she was not allowed to fraternize with them. She had to get rid of the letters. Baham believes they only wanted friendship because they were in a bad place too. The POWs wanted to be like the Americans. She enjoyed going to the movie with her friends. POWs were allowed to go to the movies. Baham thought the prisoners were well treated. The only time she heard of an issue was when three Germans tried to escape a sugar factory they were working at. Baham's father worked at the factory. They were eventually caught near Jackson Barracks by the river. At night, Baham would visit General Fleming's [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Raymond H. Fleming, chief of the National Guard Bureau and adjutant general of Louisiana] wife. She also visited the young child of one of the majors she worked with.

Marietta Baham met Omar Bradley [Annotator's Note: US Army General Omar Bradley], who was meeting a colonel at Jackson Barracks [Annotator's Note: Louisiana National Guard base in New Orleans, Louisiana]. She was delivering mail when he passed though and shook her hand. One of her friends was the secretary of the colonel. Baham thinks the two officers were meeting about the u-boat [Annotator's Note: German submarine, Unterseeboot] threat near the mouth of the river [Annotator's Note: Mississippi River]. She was not allowed to talk about many instances like that. Sometimes GIs [Annotator’s Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] would ask her if they were going to be sent overseas. They would try to bribe her for the information. Baham did not talk about her job when she was away from the base. She would live through that time again if she could. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], there was a rumor that the United States knew there would be an attack near Hawaii, but Baham never heard anything at the base. One day while in the cafeteria, Baham saw a tall man with a Chinese woman walk in. It was General Chenault [Annotator's Note: US Army Air Forces Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault] with some of the Flying Tigers. The group sat down and ate with Baham, which was a dream of hers. She was very excited to meet the Flying Tigers. She watched the movie so many times she could recite the lines. One of the actors [Annotator's Note: John Carroll] was from New Orleans. Baham met him, but he was conceited. The pilots told Baham about China, how cruel the Mongolians were, and the terrible things they saw. She was a sensitive person and some of the things they said made her cry. She invited them to USO [Annotator's Note: United Service Organizations, Inc.] dances, but they could not attend. Van Heflin [Annotator's Note: American actor], Martha Raye [Annotator’s Note: American actress and singer], and Joe Lewis [Annotator's Note: American fighter] all came to USO activities in New Orleans. The GIs [Annotator’s Note: government issue; also a slang term for an American soldier] loved when Martha Raye would dance. Baham got her autograph. Once, Baham ended up on stage at one of the events. During the act, she had to kiss a GI, but she did not make it off stage to kiss anyone. On another occasion, Baham took a streetcar [Annotator's Note: an electric rail car similar to a trolley] to Canal Street where there was a big dance party happening. She loved jazz music and said the band was good. By the end of the night, he dress had been stretched out. She also went to Keesler Field [Annotator's Note: now Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi] to dance with GIs. When she would get home, she would go to sleep and be at work the next day. The only time she sat still was to write letters.

[Annotator's Note: Marietta Baham gives the interviewer pages of information.] Marietta Baham was sad for most of the war. She thought about the soldiers dying for small amounts of money. After the war, she worked in Houston [Annotator's Note: Houston, Texas] at the War Assets Administration until the job ended. Baham then moved back to New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana], where she worked at the Port of Embarkation while the men returned home from overseas. She did the paperwork for them. Baham believes her involvement in a wartime government agency changed her. She protests the government when they send the military into other countries. Baham thinks the leaders should have to go to war instead of kids. She cried alot during the war. She was shocked when she heard the stories of the Flying Tigers [Annotator's Note: pilots that flew with the 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force China in 1941 and 1942] and when she heard about General Fleming's [Annotator's Note: US Army Major General Raymond H. Fleming, chief of the National Guard Bureau and adjutant general of Louisiana] son dying. She would like to write a book about her life experiences. Baham does not think people can go through life without experiencing some bad times. She was taught to be kind to others. Her grandmother always tried to do things for other people. Baham believes future generations should study World War 2. She thinks the war had a meaning and it changed many people's lives. Baham had a cousin who was captured, tortured, and killed on Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands]. She thinks she was young and naive, but the war was a sad time in her life. That time period showed her she could endure what came after in her life. She believes her time at Jackson Barracks [Annotator's Note: Louisiana National Guard base in New Orleans] will be with her the rest of her life. She hopes future generations will not have to go to war, but wants them to do their best. Baham thinks The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] is great. It teaches young people and makes them interested in the war. Baham's husband was a seafarer during World War 2. He would bring supplies around the world. Once, his ship was stuck in the mud for six months, but there was only food for two months. He was happy because he got to see MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] leave Guadalcanal with his family. She does not respect MacArthur for leaving. Baham believes she had quite an experience and dreams about her time at Jackson Barracks often. She thinks it was the best job she ever had.