Eileen Noll was born in 1924 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. She grew up during the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] and although work was hard, her father was a railroad man and held down a job. Noll’s mother had to work. The family raised a garden for food. Times were quiet with few things to do. No one went to the movies or dances because of the cost. She attended and graduated high school. She maintained a lot of good friends, some even to this day. She wanted to get away from a boyfriend she did not like. She went to Columbus, Ohio as a result. The boy wanted her to pay for everything. She had a job, but little money. As a high school graduate, she saw the Coast Guard as an opportunity and decided to enlist. She joined despite never hearing of the Coast Guard before. It was convenient, so that convinced her to join in 1944.

After joining the Coast Guard [Annotator’s Note: in 1944], Eileen Noll was sent to West Palm Beach [Annotator’s Note: West Palm Beach, Florida] for her basic training. It was beautiful. She enjoyed the weather and taking laundry around in a truck. She was with a good group of girls. They were sent north to New York City [Annotator’s Note: New York City, New York] where the weather was quite a bit different. They were put up in a hotel to work for IBM [Annotator’s Note: International Business Machines] in school. The girls enjoyed New York City. It was wonderful to continually learn things. Noll liked the education she received in the Coast Guard and the Navy. She learned patience and the ability to take things as they came and not fight them. The SPARS [Annotator’s Note: the United States Coast Guard women’s service; SPARS is an acronym for "Semper Paratus, Always Ready" which is the Coast Guard motto] disbanded abruptly. Noll did not want to return home, so she transferred to the Navy. She spent 41 wonderful years with the Navy. She had nurse’s training in Washington, D.C. and later became a surgical nurse on a couple of hospital ships. She aided the wounded during the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] and the Vietnam War [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]. She learned to perform amputations on 18 year old kids. She had to console them. It made her a stronger person. She stressed education with the boys. She tried to boost their morale after their traumatic experience in war. She did not hear about them after they left her, but she is confident that they were stronger. They were a good bunch of kids. Noll was at home in Johnstown [Annotator’s Note: her hometown of Johnstown, Pennsylvania] in high school when she heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. It angered her because we never did anything to them. It was a child’s attitude. We lost a lot of good guys in that attack. The country learned not to turn its back on anybody. The girls talked to each other and decided to help the cause. When she joined the Navy, she was frightened about having to go through basic training again and thought she would have to have her head shaved. She decided she wanted to expand and get as much education as she could. The Navy was good to her. It enabled her calling to be educated in the medical profession. As a female in the Navy, she felt downgraded all the time and was called wild names at times. She met wonderful fellows, but some sons of guns too. She held her own against those who demeaned her and challenged them to their faces when necessary. [Annotator’s Note: She laughs.] She learned nursing and medical procedures in 1944 and until the end of the war. She learned to set up an OR [Annotator’s Note: operating room] and work in it. She went through the requisite classes and remembered what she learned about lab work and x-rays. She took tests right alongside the men. She was in a lane that progressed upward and further. It was enjoyable because she knew she could help others. She stayed in the service after the war because she was not going to throw away the education she had received. She decided to teach at Bethesda [Annotator’s Note: Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C.] and stayed there for five years. She was a surgical procedure instructor. She went to San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California] afterward. She taught there for 15 years while in the active Navy. She owned two houses and enjoyed the weather in San Diego.

In the 1950s, Eileen Noll recognized the changes for women in the military. She felt more respected and leaned upon by the men. They asked for her advice on medical procedures. She helped male teachers. Noll was an ensign at the end of World War Two. She went on a hospital ship as a lieutenant after Bethesda [Annotator’s Note: Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington, D.C.] where she had spent five years. She was proud of the uniform that she wore. She did nothing to demean it. In San Diego [Annotator’s Note: San Diego, California], she had two children and joined the PTA [Annotator’s Note: parent teacher association]. She was expected to take on positions of authority because of her prior training and people skills. She enjoyed San Diego. The civilians looked up to the Navy personnel. It was a good feeling to be called upon to help with committee work. It made her feel like a part of the community. After 15 years in San Diego, Noll went to Lafayette, Louisiana to be with her daughter. She sailed on the hospital ship Hope to Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953], Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: Okinawa, Japan] and then Portland, Oregon. The water there was very cold. The hospital ship disbanded at that time except to pick up casualties in Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War, or Second Indochina War, 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975]. Some went to San Diego and some to D.C. [Annotator’s Note: Washington, D.C.]. In 1951, she decided to change her life. She went to live with her daughter. Noll refused to remarry her ex-husband. She later had two strokes and went into the place where she now resides. Noll saw many women who did not want to be in the Navy, but just wanted to wear the uniform. It became too restrictive for them. It was not all fun and games as they thought it might be. It was work. Personnel had to respect themselves or bail out. She is proud of her uniform. After the war, people did not know what they wanted to do. Even though she was not in uniform, she would never disrespect her service. There were a lot of good girls who entered service, and they were wonderful. They built a stronger female component of the Navy. Noll retired from the Navy in 1951. She had previously graduated from the hospital in Washington, D.C. and worked for the Navy as a teacher after 1951.

The Navy made Eileen Noll a different person. She wanted to be better so that went along with the role the Navy played. She wanted to be a nurse and work in the medical profession. It seemed men were given priority, but with her tenure she was right up there with the males. There was objection to her pushing to get ahead of the men. She learned about people even though she joked about just being in the service to chase men. Education is important to gain and then utilize. She challenged others to get their college degree. She has not attended the World War Two Museum in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], but feels it is necessary to teach the lessons of the war. History is about recognizing the past and knowing why the country was involved in the war. Friends are her fondest memories of her service in the military. The girls banded together in basic training in the Coast Guard or the Navy. Their heads were shaved in basic. They refused to have it done again when she joined the Navy after the Coast Guard disbanded her position. She feels lucky to have been in the Navy because it made her a better person.