Tony Roomsburg (aka “Toni” and “Pearl”) was born on November 14, 1919 in Phoenix, Arizona to James A. Roomsburg and Callie J. Roomsburg. She first appears in the Census of 1920 listed as age 0 “newborn.” Her mother was 31 years old and her father 24. By the 1930 Census the family had moved to Lomita, CA and she is listed as ten years old.
Roomsburg attended Narbonne High School where she was an honor student and excelled at sports. She played field hockey in 9th grade and volleyball in 10th. Upon her graduation (1938) she left for Arizona to attend Arizona State Teacher’s College. She was a member of the Archery Team. She graduated in 1942 with a teaching credential in Primary Teaching. The 1940 Census lists her residence as 2259 239th Street in Torrance and categorizes her as “temporary absent” as a second year college student.
Tony Roomsburg enlisted as a private in the Women’s Army Corp on December 31, 1943, according to US WWII enlistment records. Her enlistment period was for “the duration of the war, plus six months.” She is listed as college educated and a primary school teacher. (Let me note here that while women serving in the military is common now, it most certainly was NOT in WWII).
The 150,000 women to serve in the Corps were the first of their kind. The first training center was in Fort Des Moines, Iowa. For the most part only college educated women were accepted. Their initial history was fraught with sexism and bias. Servicemen considered WACs as little more than camp followers, and the general public looked upon them with scorn (at best). Men also thought that they were taking “safe” stateside clerical jobs and putting more of the men in harm’s way. Wives looked upon them with suspicion and saw them as no more than prostitutes.
In early 1945, PFC Roomsburg received orders to transfer to Liberia and was en route by airplane from Accra, Ghana to Robert Field, Liberia on May 30, 1945, with seventeen other WACs and an aircrew of three. Their Army transport plane disappeared without a trace, possibly into the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) near Takoradi. The wreckage was never located and none of the bodies were recovered.
We will never know what motivated Toni Roomsburg to leave the classroom and join the the Corp, but we can assume that she stood out among the WACs. Overseas assignments were highly coveted, and only the most highly qualified received them. At the time of her death, her home of record was Lomita, CA. She was an only child who had never married. She was 25 1/2 years old and had served in the WAC only seventeen months. Her presence on that flight, as a member of the Women’s Army Corp on an overseas assignment, is a testimonial to what an extraordinary woman she was.
Researched by Sue Golden
