"I never regretted that I didnt go into the Navy or the Army." (Video Interview, 14:54)
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Betty Tosti Leiding
Betty Leiding [2002]
War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: SPAR (Women's Coast Guard Reserve) Service Location: Palm Beach, Florida; New York, New York Rank: Storekeeper First Class Place of Birth: MA
A persuasive Coast Guard recruiter opened the door to a life of adventure for 20-year-old
Betty Tosti of Framingham, Massachusetts. After training in Palm Beach, Florida, where
she learned to swim, she was assigned to an office in lower Manhattan. A brief stint in
the Finance Office led to an offer she couldnt refusesince it was an order: becoming
an assistant to a genial commander. Social life in New York included dating officers (a
no-no for an enlisted woman) and meeting her future husband, a Merchant Mariner in
training. Leiding admits that going off to war, even if it only meant office work in the States,
offered her a different perspective on the world from that of her younger sisters, who stayed
close to home all their lives.