#VeteranOfTheDay Army Veteran Deborah Jo Pereira

September 25, 2022: Deborah Jo Pereira

Deborah Jo Pereira enlisted with the military at a unique time in her personal life. She came from an extensive military family, with seven uncles serving in the Second World War, her father serving in the Navy and her older brother serving as a Marine in Vietnam. Her mother wanted to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps, but marriage and children changed her plans. Having become a young mother herself in her mid-twenties, Pereira grappled with what she wanted to do.

Coincidentally, Pereira enlisted at a unique time in American military history: she joined the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1975. Unbeknownst to her, she had enlisted a relatively short while before the Army abolished the WAC in 1978 and integrated women into parts of its organization. This meant that she was absorbed into the regular Army and participated in one of the first co-ed basic training programs in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Pereira found basic training to be incredibly difficult. Oftentimes, she thought about giving up and dropping dead. Yet, she continued marching forward every day, becoming an inspiration for many of the younger members of her unit.

Once Pereira completed Advanced Individual Training, she was assigned to Fort Rucker, Alabama, working there as a personnel specialist. There, she observed the intricacies of the planning, practice and anticipation of military action.

A year later, Pereira was transferred to the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, California. There, she was promoted to E-4 Specialist Rank and assigned to officers’ records. The administrative work she performed helped the institute in its goal of maintaining accurate and confidential records that were vital to the nation’s security. The assignment’s location also gave her many opportunities to visit her son and family living in Southern California. Pereira remained in this assignment until shortly before the end of her fourth year of service.

After being discharged in 1979, she enlisted in the National Guard in 1980, achieved “hard stripe” Sgt. E-5 and served as a recruiter until she remarried and became pregnant with her second child. Four children and many years later, she is proud to have continued the family tradition of service to her country.

We honor her service.

Writer: Calvin Wong

Editors: Brooke Wolfenbarger, Cynthia Xu

Researcher: Ryan Nishiyama

Graphic Designer: Kiki Kelley