Judy Struve Muncrief Oral History Interview
Interviewer(s): Robert Klein
Interviewee(s): Judy Struve Muncrief

Robert Klein: Today is April 4th, 2005. This is Bob Klein. I'm interviewing Judy Struve Muncrief, who was a Peace Corps volunteer in Dominican Republic, 1965 to '67, in community development. So let's go back, you know, maybe a year before you joined and talk about what was going on.

Judy Struve Muncrief: OK. Well, I was in college, and that was also a time in the history of the United States which certainly as somebody in college was paying attention to in terms of not only Kennedy and Kennedy had said in terms of doing something for others and for your country, but the civil rights movement was going strong.

Robert Klein: Where were you in college?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I was at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. It's a Methodist school.

Robert Klein: And what were you taking?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I was studying sociology and psychology. Well, general liberal arts, actually, but sociology.

Robert Klein: Did you have any particular career path in mind or?

Judy Struve Muncrief: At that time I was thinking social work, that sort of thing.

Robert Klein: And during college and even in high school, had you done any kind of volunteer work somewhere?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Not really. I'd always been very involved in church, in the Methodist Church. And so there probably was some volunteer work involved there. But I grew up on a farm in northwest Iowa, and there wasn't much time for volunteer work. Wasn't much of a need for the volunteer work, because you were so busy.

Robert Klein: Yeah. How about any travel during, right up through college?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Very little. Very little travel.

Robert Klein: OK. And had you studied any other language?

Judy Struve Muncrief: In college I studied Spanish, but at that time there was no language taught in the high school that I attended. Small town high school. And you know, you have to remember that was I graduated in '61 so that latter part of the fifties I was in high school. And again, I think that was true of many small towns at that time.

Robert Klein: Sure. Do you recall when you first heard about the Peace Corps or how or?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't. I don't really remember. I just know that Kennedy was a great influence on me in terms of his person, his personage. And what I perceived at that point of his integrity and sincerity.

Robert Klein: So as you are coming up to graduation, what year would be?

Judy Struve Muncrief: '65. Graduated in May and went to the Peace Corps I think the next month, or the next month or so.

Robert Klein: At what point did you decide that you were going to apply?

Judy Struve Muncrief: You know, I can't remember exactly when I applied.

Robert Klein: Do you recall the application?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh, yes, I remember the application, and I remember that this wasn't going to be a popular thing with my parents, but it'd been my dad. And I think it was the previous year, I just can't remember when, a group of students went from Morningside to the South to help register to vote. So and I did not go, but I wanted to go.

Robert Klein: Yeah.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And so it just seemed that as I got closer to thinking about graduation, what I wanted to do. This was, I just knew this was what I was going to do. And I knew it would be not popular because as my dad told me, I didn't send you to college to go off to some foreign country.

Robert Klein: They didn't kind of picture you as sort of a missionary or?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Uh, I don't think they would, even though I may have perceived myself in more in that light, particularly with my church background and service ideology. And because I did have that.

Robert Klein: Right. Yeah, not necessarily to proselytize, but to do service.

Judy Struve Muncrief: No. But to do good. Whatever a person of that age has a picture in their head, you know, that we're going to change the world. We're going to help the world.

Robert Klein: How about you? Do you have any siblings?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, I was the oldest of four.

Robert Klein: And what did the siblings think of this?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I can't remember, except I would imagine they thought it was great.

Robert Klein: And your friends, your college friends?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Um, I don't really have a perception of getting much feedback from them. This was kind of just something that whatever they thought, I was going to do. And yeah, I don't know that I was that strident about it. But now in hindsight, it was like my mind was made up. So I remember filling out the application. Probably it was just that. I don't know how quickly I could have gotten approved, but it seemed to me that it was that spring of '65, early, early '65, that I filled out the application.

Robert Klein: Yeah.

Judy Struve Muncrief: In those days, maybe that was true.

Robert Klein: I can't remember if they, do you remember taking a lengthy test as well?

Judy Struve Muncrief: There was some sort of a test.

Robert Klein: Sort of like almost like the graduate exam.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. I probably saw, now that I'm thinking about it, probably saw, I'm not sure if there was a poster at college. I don't know. And then right there in Sioux City, you could go probably take the test or the entry thing or whatever it was. And I have a vague recollection of that. But it seemed like it was probably that spring that I.

Robert Klein: So you weren't recruited. I mean, you knew of it and said, I want to do this.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. No one talked to me about it that I recall. I didn't talk to anybody that had come back because there weren't that many that had come back from the Peace Corps by that time, you know, early '65.

Robert Klein: And then in the application, if you remember, there's a place where you indicate a preference for assignment. Do you recall it?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. I think I indicated Spanish speaking if possible because that was the only language I spoke besides English or had any knowledge of besides English. And it seemed to me that I might have indicated South America or, you know, other places where people speak Spanish because besides South America. But yeah, seems like it.

Robert Klein: And what happened next? You got a letter or telegram?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I got a letter that I was approved, that I was accepted, and can't remember at that point. I guess that must have been when they say. Well, I don't know if they had assigned me to a place right then. I can't remember, you know, whether you're going to the Dominican Republic or we'll get back to you. I can't recall.

Robert Klein: Usually it's an invitation to training.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. Well then, I probably got a letter that said that I would be assigned to the Dominican Republic, and I would be reporting to Philadelphia.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And then after a period of time there, a short period of time, let me think. Then I would go to the Dominican Republic and I was in Arecibo, south of Arecibo, in one of the camps there. That's where I trained.

Robert Klein: So the training was actually in country then?

Judy Struve Muncrief: It was in Puerto Rico.

Robert Klein: Oh, yes, OK, OK. But you got the letter and you didn't have any hesitation about sending back and saying?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Evidently, if I did, I overcame it because, you know, I'm sure it wasn't as black and white as I remember. No, because one always thinks, oh my gosh, is this what I need to do, should do, at this point? And so I.

Robert Klein: And your parents weren't, you know, saying, go, go!

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh, no, no. I don't even know, frankly, if when I told them. I can't remember when I told them I had been accepted.

Robert Klein: I hope you said something before you left.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh yes, oh yes. I didn't say, by the way, folks, there's suitcases and I'm going to the Peace Corps. No, I can't. I can't recall when I told them, probably after I got accepted, you know, and then probably went home, you know, that spring and indicated that I had been accepted to the Peace Corps.

Robert Klein: So you were going to report to Philadelphia and that was after graduation.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. So I graduated in May.

Robert Klein: And had you been given a shopping list and clothing to buy and everything?

Judy Struve Muncrief: It seems like I had, yes, seems like I had a long list of things and shots. Probably some, well, I can't remember, cause I got some shots in country.

Robert Klein: Right. So you were sort of leaving with the expectation that you were not going to be back home for two years.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, actually, strangely enough, in those days. I don't know if it had to do with the training in Puerto Rico or what, but we went to Philadelphia. We had the orientation there, got our eyes examined, glasses. If you know, a pair of Peace Corps glasses, if we needed them. Teeth perhaps. And then we were sent to Puerto Rico. And after our two and a half months there in this camp, we were able to come back home for two weeks.

Robert Klein: Oh, OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Ten days, whatever. And then, so we came back home for that two-week period and then we were sent to the Dominican Republic.

Robert Klein: Let's talk about that period when you reported to Philadelphia. There must have a hotel or someplace where you stayed.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Peace Corps had a hotel there.

Robert Klein: Do you recall approximately how many people were in the group at that point? Were they all for the Dominican Republic?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Probably everybody that came together at that point that I remember was. And I mean, there could have been 28, 30.

Robert Klein: Do you recall your impression? I mean, now here you've made this decision and suddenly you're in the midst of 20 some other people who made the same decision.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Mm hmm. Well, certainly curious, you know, in terms of what is, you know, in a sense, I suppose, what has motivated these people. But mostly I was just excited, you know, and a new adventure that I never imagined that I would have. Here I am in Philadelphia. And of course, you get to absorb some of the history, you know, because I've never been there before. And everybody, we were, most people were young. We were, many of us just out of college. And also, you have to remember that was the Vietnam War was just ramping up. And so there were a couple of older men, but most of them were. Most of us, I think, were just out of college and, um, more males than females.

Robert Klein: I think that was the beginning of the Vietnam.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. You know, and probably most of us are trying to figure out what community development meant, you know?

Robert Klein: Do you recall if in Philadelphia you were told that you're going to train to go to Dominican Republic to do community development, or simply that you're going to train in a generic sense?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, we knew that we were going to the Dominican Republic. Now whether or not we were told at that point that it was community, I'm almost sure that it was, that we were addressed as a community development group. Yeah, I'm almost sure of that.

Robert Klein: Talk about the Arecibo, the Puerto Rican.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, Arecibo is on the coast, the northern coast. And their Camp Crozier and Camp Bradley were south of there. And my group was in Camp Bradley. And I'm not sure volunteers were even at Crozier at that time. But anyway.

Robert Klein: Was the camp fairly new or had it been around a while?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, see, this was '65 and um, Sargent Shriver had instituted those Outward Bound programs because that's basically what those camps were. Outward Bound in terms of physical.

Robert Klein: Did you know that, when you finally got to the camp, that that's what was going to happen? I mean, did people define the goals or the purpose?

Judy Struve Muncrief: And I just remember that when this got in our heads, my head and our heads, but that the type of training we would be undergoing was going to be physical. Because the idea was anything we could handle physically, we then would be able to handle psychologically anything we met. So if we could do it, you know, meet the physical challenges.

Robert Klein: And was there language training as well?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. And that was a main focus.

Robert Klein: How was that organized, do you recall?

Judy Struve Muncrief: We must have taken either oral and written language tests or maybe based upon what we had reported we had studied, but we were divided into groups that had common knowledge of the language. So that there were some that were more advanced.

Robert Klein: And so how many hours a day with language, was it every morning?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh yeah, it was every day, and it probably was at least three hours a day. But that's a guess. I don't know, details escape me at this point.

Robert Klein: Do you recall if anyone said that your ability to learn the language would determine whether you went?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Hmm. Not really. Not really. I suppose there was that sense. I mean, my gosh, here we are fresh from college. We knew we needed to communicate in some manner, I mean, obviously. And we knew that the last two weeks of training, we were going to be living with a Puerto Rican family that didn't speak English. And so, you know, we had some reason to want to learn the language, but everybody's different. And in the desire to learn a language doesn't always mean that you're going to be able to learn.

Robert Klein: How long was the first phase, before you went out for the family stay?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh, we were in camp probably two months.

Robert Klein: Oh, that long?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah. Before we were. It seemed to me that the last thing we did, but I could be wrong. Last thing we did was to spend this week, two weeks, two weeks with, maybe it wasn't two weeks, a week with this family.

Robert Klein: Yeah. During the first phase, what else did you do?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, we had projects there at the camp. One group had raised chickens. And I can't for the life of me remember what my group did, but we weren't in charge of chickens. It may come to me as I think about it. We presented demonstrations on food, how to use powdered milk, for example, how to make useful things, maybe sewing, that sort of thing. We were supposed to do this in Spanish, so as time went on and it wasn't the first week, of course, but as time went on, we had little classes and we were in charge of presenting something.

Robert Klein: So you'd work in small groups and you'd have to get up and do a presentation.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. And of course, we had our duties at camp. We had to clean latrines. We had to sweep, you know, and we had, every day we had to get up very early. And a big guy named Al would wake us up by pounding on our door and we would do calisthenics and exercises in the dining hall. And then, if not every time we did this, almost every day we ran down to the other camp. Sometimes, not always, but we ran down to a particular point. I can't know how far the other camp was from our camp. And it was hilly, so we would run as far as we could or as far as they indicated we should try. And then sometimes we went down to the other camp, either if we ever ran all the way and then did this Outward Bound water work, but we got down to the other camp some way. And then they put us through some water challenges, and they, for example, would tie our hands and we had to swim across the water.

Robert Klein: Drown proofing.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. And then they'd tie our feet, not our hands, and they tie both and we had to swim. And then we went out into the ocean cove, into a cove where we did some drown proofing one time or one or two times.

Robert Klein: Through all this, how did you take to the physical training?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Good. Fine. I was always physically active and strong and had worked outside a lot.

Robert Klein: And how about others in the group?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Seemingly OK. I mean, I don't recall. There may have been some. Now we did some rappelling off of the rocks, which I enjoyed, frankly, it was fun. And, you know, I can't remember if some weren't able to do it. Some may have been afraid. I just I don't recall. I don't know that anybody particularly stood out.

Robert Klein: That brings up the other aspect of training that may have been at play. Was there a selection process going on?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. Yes.

Robert Klein: Do you recall that?

Judy Struve Muncrief: We had at that time, regular, probably weekly, I'm not real sure, interviews with a psychologist.

Robert Klein: Mm hmm. One on one?

Judy Struve Muncrief: One on one.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: One on one. It may not have been as frequently as once a week. He probably came down once a month, but it seemed like it was once a week.

Robert Klein: Do you recall your interviews?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I do. I do. Probably I was scared to death, obviously, because, you know, here's this little northwest Iowa girl, you know, and here's this psychologist. And this has something to do with whether I'll get to go or not, you know? Um, but it seemed to work out OK, and I'm sure language was part of that, I mean. And you know, your personality, how you interact with everybody else. And um.

Robert Klein: Go ahead.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, it's hard to know, frankly, in those days what they were looking for in a volunteer because I'm not sure that they knew either what they were looking for. Plus, the Dominican Republic had an extra, there was a special problem there. There had a revolution that just happened.

Robert Klein: While you were in Puerto Rico?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, earlier in '65. And so the United Nations Peacekeeping Force was there, which included a large number of American marines. So we knew that we were being sent into an unstable situation.

Robert Klein: Now this all emerged in Puerto Rico?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, you know, I can't remember how much we knew or how much I knew.

Robert Klein: Because most of you would not be following affairs in Dominican Republic, I mean.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Not, well, we might have if we knew that, that's where we were to be assigned.

Robert Klein: Oh, right, OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: We might have. Can I remember that I went to the New York? No, I didn't go the New York Times. I'm sure I didn't, because that just wasn't in my array of choices. I'm sorry. I mean, I'm not saying that. Some probably were more informed than others. But we did have a lot of classes where we learned about the history of the country and about the politics of the country. Who is who, what newspapers were there, what they stood for, who had been the leaders. What happened after Trujillo, who had been the dictator, was killed, you know, and why the country was so unstable. What we could expect, that we were not to fraternize with American troops, and why.

Robert Klein: Right. But whoever was lecturing expressed the confidence that it was appropriate for you to go there and work in community development?

Judy Struve Muncrief: And that it would be safe, that it would be safe. Yes. Well, that was my perception anyway.

Robert Klein: Well, yeah.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And they were, I think I got the sense that they were watching the situation. You know, that they were constantly monitoring what was happening. And we had a library there in the camp where we could go and read the newspapers.

Robert Klein: During this time, did anyone from, was Peace Corps already in Dominican Republic?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes.

Robert Klein: And had they pulled out at the time of the revolution or stayed?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, they did not pull out. They brought, um, they consolidated. I think the Peace Corps office might have been cut off. The rebels overtook some part of the capital city. And they might, Peace Corps office might have been cut off at that point, and they talked about having to get some volunteers, I won't say rescue, but bring some volunteers from an area that wasn't safe into an area that was. And as far as being out in the rural areas, I think most of the action was in the capital city. And so that's probably, the volunteers there were in most danger just because there was random shooting. Or not so random shooting.

Robert Klein: Right. Did anyone from Peace Corps staff in Dominican Republic come to Puerto Rico to talk to you?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Good question.

Robert Klein: Sort of firsthand.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I'm trying to remember if, it would have been John Smith. He was the director in country, and I'm just trying to remember if he came to Puerto Rico. It seems like he did, but I can't remember him sitting, you know, you kind of think, well, now where was he? If he was there, where did he address us? Yeah, I just can't remember that he did. I just can't recall.

Robert Klein: Let's go to the end of phase one of training. Was there any kind of selection board held at that point, sort of like a midpoint selection? Or was there a sense that everybody who was there was going to continue?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No. People were deselected all along the way. Well, I don't know during the first month.

Robert Klein: But did they tend to disappear?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Mm hmm. They sure did.

Robert Klein: And talk about that.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, probably most of that deselection happened toward the end, I would hope, I would think toward the end of time. And again, we probably assumed that much of it had to do with what was happening between us and the psychologist. That may not have been the case. But I can think of several men. There were no women deselected. I think there were only five or six of us in the group, frankly. Men who just were, you know, the rumor got around that they weren't going to be part of the group anymore or they weren't going in country.

Robert Klein: Yeah. Did the group coalesce at all and react to this? I mean, protest or at least mutter about it?

Judy Struve Muncrief: You know, we didn't. You know, we didn't.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And I know that some training groups did.

Robert Klein: Yeah, yeah.

Judy Struve Muncrief: But there was no sense of, uh, thank you, being, um, irate. I think we probably just got quiet about it and wondered, you know, what was the reason? Why did they feel like these would not be suitable volunteers? Did it have to do with, what did it have to do with?

Robert Klein: There were no explanations given that you recall?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Not that I recall.

Robert Klein: OK. How did you feel about the process? Did you feel pretty comfortable that you were going? You weren't going to be deselected, as they say?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I guess I must have, but that may have just been in hindsight, I made it through. You know, I don't recall. I'm sure that everybody was a bit nervous. You know, I'll say this and you can do with it what you want. But it seems like there may have been some, maybe they always asked questions about gender preference in those days. Maybe they did. But it just seemed like there was some hunting for gender preference.

Robert Klein: Yeah, I think you're right.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And it may have just been my perception and at that point in my life what did I know? And then in our culture, what did we know about gender preference in terms of a lifestyle, you know, or a choice or not a choice.

Robert Klein: But you're right.

Judy Struve Muncrief: It just seemed like to me that was because I know those questions were asked. Now I do remember. Oh, I know. One of the questions that the psychologist asked had to do with, uh, we must have had some kind of a class on the dangers of getting involved with a host country national. And so what I think his question had to do with what would I do if I was attracted to someone, a Dominican. And I think he was just checking that out in terms of, you know, my response, and did I think it was ever possible that that could happen? Because I think if you can entertain the possibility of it happening, you're a lot healthier, because it's just realistic to think that it could. So I must have answered it OK because.

Robert Klein: Let's go to the second phase of training. You want to describe it, how it was organized and?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Going out into the field and living with the family?

Robert Klein: Yeah.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Sure. In prior to that, one of the really, I guess it was fun and it was an adventure. And it was kind of scary too. All, there may have been six or seven women at that point. I'm not sure. There weren't any more than that. And we were taken out. And there had been several preliminary excursions into the wild, led by one of the trainers, where we would go out and we had to spend the night. We had to pitch our tent, spend the night, cook snails and eat them. Snails that we found on the ground, you know, land snails. Pretty much just stay out there by ourselves, not talk to anybody for that period of time. You know, there's something. And then let's say six, six, seven girls, women, young women were. We had backpacks and we were all outfitted with our boots and map, and we were taken out and dropped off at a certain point and we were supposed to find our way back to camp over a period of days. And not supposed to go to tiendas or little stores and buy food and all that kind of stuff. So that was quite an adventure. And it, you know, the adventure had to do with how well we were going to cooperate, who going to read the map, who's going to take orders, who's going to give orders.

Robert Klein: Do you recall what role you played in the group?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I probably was not a leader at that point in terms of saying, this is how we need to do it. You know, I had opinions, definitely. But you know, somebody else probably felt like they wanted to.

Robert Klein: And I gather you did work your way back to camp.

Judy Struve Muncrief: We got back to camp. Saw some beautiful country, didn't get the disease that snails in that country transmit through the water, bilharzia.

Robert Klein: Oh, OK. Yeah. Did any of the six sort of indicate they were very uncomfortable with what was happening or?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't think so. There was no, you know, there was no great emotional upheaval in any of us. No, I don't think so. At least that's not my recollection.

Robert Klein: Sure.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I just knew we got back, and I remember the beautiful, beautiful landscapes in Puerto Rico and the beautiful streams and finding scorpions in our sleeping quarters and things like that.

Robert Klein: So, yeah, tell me about the family stay. How was that organized?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, they had evidently, the staff and Peace Corps there at the training centers, had gone out and had located families, and they may have used them before, although I don't know if they had or not. And I was assigned to a family in the southwest part of the island.

Robert Klein: Alone?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Alone. Mm hmm. And it was parents and two boys, I believe, two early teenage boys. And the mother had cancer. So anyway. And it was not too far from the Presbyterian mission. It's called El Guacio. And so my jumping off point was that mission. So I was able to, I must have been dropped off there. Don't remember how I got there. But I could. And there was another volunteer with me who was going to go somewhere else in that southwest corner.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: But I never saw him after that. So I was trying to think of the name of the town. San Sebastian was the town, but we weren't in town. We were out in the country, out on a farm, little farm place. So I was able to stay at El Guacio that first night probably. And then I walked. I don't know how far I walked. I just remember that it was muddy and the dirt was red and I had white shoes. That dirt never came off. That red never came off. Funny recollection. But anyway, I found my way to their house. I don't know how I.

Robert Klein: So you had the name and?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I must have had the name and more or less where it was located, and so I just.

Robert Klein: Was it a couple or just the?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, it was the couple, the parents and these two children. At least that, seemed like it was just those two boys.

Robert Klein: At the end of phase one, had you had another language test? Do you recall?

Judy Struve Muncrief: You know, I can't remember. I can't remember at all.

Robert Klein: So as you're walking through the mud to get to this, do you have any sense that you can speak Spanish?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Gosh, I don't know. Probably not. Probably, I probably I thought I could, and probably I thought I could understand a lot more than I was going to understand, frankly. I probably could not string a good sentence together because it was, you know, your fright level comes up when you think, I've got to make myself understood.

Robert Klein: So how did it go with the?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I guess it was OK, you know. It was good to have those two boys because, you know, there was a jukebox right there. They must have had a little dance place or something. So music was a common denominator and I learned, I got to learn a lot of songs. Some songs I still remember from that period of time, and songs are a good way to learn Spanish too. And so I learned to play dominoes with them.

Robert Klein: And were you able to adjust to the food?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. Didn't get sick. Not every day, but many days I would walk. I would, she would pack some kind of a little lunch, I guess, or a drink anyway. I would take orange juice. And I remember that sometimes the orange juice had ants in it because there were ants in the sugar or lemonade or something. So I can remember that experience. But I could walk, I don't remember how far, quite a ways, but I could walk to a town, a pretty good sized town. And so either out in the country or in town, probably was out in the country, I met a home demonstration agent, Puerto Rican, who was teaching different types of sewing.

Robert Klein: Did you know she was there?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, I just can't remember how I even met her, or maybe I met her in somebody else's house. I think I must have, I must have been visiting because I had some sense that. See, we were supposed to, we had a project out there. Well, we were supposed to assess the community, you know, not formally, but informally assess the community, figure out what their felt needs were, what their real needs were in terms of something grandiose.

Robert Klein: In two weeks?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Like, two weeks. Do they need an aqueduct? As if we were supposed to know. So figure out what the needs were and the same kind of thing that we would be doing in country. So I felt like I needed to talk to the people as best I could, although I'm not sure, I can't remember. I must have gone to people's houses, but I did go to where this home demonstration agent was having a class, and I must have gone several times, which was a good place to be because, you know, there were people there and I could listen. And so I remember, I still have a needlepoint thing that I did when I was there because I let her teach me how to do that.

Robert Klein: Oh, OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: It was great, and she was a young woman.

Robert Klein: So it was about a two-week period?

Judy Struve Muncrief: It seems to me that it was, yeah.

Robert Klein: Did you find anyone with whom you could speak English?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Hmm. I don't remember. I did run into the other volunteer one time in that town.

Robert Klein: I mean, it'd be extraordinary to go two weeks and not.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh yeah, exactly. I may have gone back to Guacio, you know, the mission, the Presbyterian mission during that period of time. I probably did. Like you say, would I remember that, my gosh, I haven't spoken to anybody in English for two weeks. You know, would I remember that? I don't know.

Robert Klein: Now this period is kind of modeling what you're going to be expected to do.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right.

Robert Klein: And how did you feel about it now? I mean, your role as a volunteer is beginning to get some definition.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. And I just knew that, well, I mean, at that point, you believe that what they're telling you what you're going to do in country is assess the community, figure out what the felt needs are, get to know the people, get to listen to them about what they what they're saying, and all that. And obviously now in hindsight, that's very idealistic, but you have to have a framework.

Robert Klein: But at that point, you?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I bought into it.

Robert Klein: You accepted that.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes.

Robert Klein: OK, that makes sense.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Because you have to. You have to have a model. You have to have a framework to why are you here? What am I doing here?

Robert Klein: So since it did make sense, then you began to feel reasonably comfortable and put yourself into the.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, I even came up with a project, and I can't remember what it was now. But I just I remember we had to go back.

Robert Klein: It wasn't building an aqueduct.

Judy Struve Muncrief: It had something to do with water. I can't remember what. Yeah, it did have something to do with water. We were to report. I don't think we ever went back to the camp in Arecibo. My recollection is we might have gone directly from staying with that family to San Juan to a particular motel, the hotel, where we gathered as a group. And we and I remember we all came in from the hinterlands, you know, and I think I was one of the last ones to get there because I probably had farther to come to. And then we reported on our stay.

Robert Klein: To the group?

Judy Struve Muncrief: To the group, right.

Robert Klein: In English?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, yes. Yes, in English.

Robert Klein: So now this is the end of the Puerto Rican phase of training.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Then we must have. Then that's when we flew home, I guess, for two weeks.

Robert Klein: Well, just to finish. What do you recall any final selection or had it just been going along all?

Judy Struve Muncrief: You know, I don't. I don't recall.

Robert Klein: No point when someone walked in a room and said, well, you're all going.

Judy Struve Muncrief: No.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, I don't recall that. I don't recall any division of us, or I don't recall at that point somebody saying, you know, so-and-so is not going.

Robert Klein: During training, did you do any peer preference reporting? In other words, if you're going to be assigned, you'd like to be assigned with X, or you didn't want to be assigned with X.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Don't recall that. I don't recall that at all. We may have, but if so, it didn't leave a wrinkle in my brain.

Robert Klein: Did anyone explain why you were going to get home leave for two weeks? Did it relate to the political situation?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't think so. I just thought it was probably standard operating procedure. But it wasn't, because I've talked to other volunteers that didn't. I mean, not only was that a break in our training and our mindset, you know, here we are back then wherever we came from. And the language, you know, two weeks off when we don't have to hear the language and look at the expense, right?

Robert Klein: But no one, was there any kind of rumor mongering that, well, things are probably not that good right now in Dominican Republic. So they want to give this.

Judy Struve Muncrief: No. Not at all.

Robert Klein: All right, fine.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't, I just don't recall that. And again, I thought it was probably it may be because of training on the island there in Puerto Rico, that was standard operating procedure.

Robert Klein: OK. So you went home.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Went back to northwest Iowa.

Robert Klein: You folks had another shot at you.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah, right, exactly.

Robert Klein: Did you feel more confident talking about what you were going to be doing?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Mm hmm. Yeah.

Robert Klein: I assume you did not discuss the political situation in any depth.

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, I'm not sure I could have at that point, except I knew that there were. I don't think that, they certainly weren't tuned into it. And maybe that was good, I mean.

Robert Klein: Well, that's it. Did they know that there was a revolution that had just taken place?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't think so. And I don't remember. I didn't go into great detail. I suppose they always perceived that whenever you left the American shore, there was going to be danger.

Robert Klein: Sure. OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And if only they knew what now, right, now it is that way. But in those days, relatively safe.

Robert Klein: During the two weeks, what did you do?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I ate.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I gained about ten pounds. I ate and saw my family.

Robert Klein: Any of your friends try to dissuade you at that point?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Nope. Don't recall that.

Robert Klein: Was there any kind of big send off?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh, certainly had family gathering. You know, where grandma cooked and everybody came? And uh, yeah. Saw everybody.

Robert Klein: I mean, was there anyone in the family who was putting a positive cast on what it was that you were doing? I mean, echoes of Kennedy sort of?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. It certainly was not, even from my dad at that point, it wasn't negative. I mean, it's just that I could, I gathered, I knew that he was not overjoyed with my decision, but in terms of everyday reminding me, you know, you shouldn't do this or whatever. No, I don't recall that.

Robert Klein: And you were pretty firm in your conviction about going.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. Yeah.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I mean, I was going.

Robert Klein: So let's get you there. What now after the two weeks? What happened?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, I can't remember if we flew like to Miami and then on to the D.R. But anyway, got to the D.R.

Robert Klein: Right. That was the whole group of you?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right.

Robert Klein: And as far as you know, you're all CD volunteers.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right.

Robert Klein: OK. Do you remember your arrival?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I'm not, I remember getting off the plane and it was steamy and hot. I remember that part. And I'm trying to remember when we knew where we were going to be assigned. We must have ended up in another one of those hotels where we have meetings and they determined where we were going. Because I went with one, well, there were probably four of us that were sent kind of in the same direction, way out into the southwest corner of the island. And I was in Neiba, a town called N-E-I-B-A [also spelled Neyba], and there were two other. And there were other volunteers already there from previous groups, by the way. Now that I think about that. I don't think there was anyone assigned from my group to Neiba besides me, but there were other volunteers there and there had been from the beginning.

Robert Klein: And they were community development volunteers?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Um, one was a geologist and had been, several of them were geologists and had been in well drilling and water issues. And one of the interesting things was that the Dominican Republic at that point had a community development organization in their government. One of the, they had a branch that was community development, and it had but only for men. And so only the male parts of our group were assigned to the government's community development program. The women were on our own.

Robert Klein: Wow.

Judy Struve Muncrief: On our own. And so I remember they gave me a, "they" must have been the Peace Corps in Santo Domingo, probably through CARE or something. I had a sewing machine that I was supposed to take out there and take it to the sewing school because most of those communities of any size had programs already ongoing. And one of them, not that they were all functioning well, but there was a woman teaching sewing in a little government school there, all kinds of sewing. So I ended up, that's where this machine went, was to this school. And when I first went there, let me think where. I remember staying, hmm, with the family. But I can't remember how.

Robert Klein: Did one of the old volunteers arrange it for you?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Maybe some, maybe that was what happened, that somebody from.

Robert Klein: How far from the capital was Neiba?

Judy Struve Muncrief: About as far as you can get.

Robert Klein: And how did you travel?

Judy Struve Muncrief: It probably took about four hours maybe, three or four hours.

Robert Klein: How did you travel?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Publicos, public cars, like taxis that ran between towns.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And there were, you could go to a certain, you could call. I guess, we must have been able to call a taxi in the capital city and there would be cars going to Neiba or going to the southwest. And sometimes you had to go to a certain town and then get another car to Neiba. But most often you could get one. And when you're in Neiba and you wanted to come back, it was a little easier because you knew certain people. There weren't that many people leaving Neiba to go to the capital with their public car.

Robert Klein: Just to back up a little bit because of the political sensitivity of what you were doing. Was there anywhere along during training or in your initial time in the country where you had a sense that there were CIA people in your group or looking at your group or?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No. It could have been. I was totally unaware. So focused on me and what's going to happen.

Robert Klein: Do you recall anyone, when you first came in, there must have been staging with some of the Peace Corps staff? Do you recall any of them saying be alert to the fact that strangers may come up, Americans, and try to get information from you? Was there ever any mention of CIA?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No.

Robert Klein: OK. Fine.

Judy Struve Muncrief: During the time that I was in Neiba, however, there was a special contingent of special forces troops that brought a helicopter in there. They rented a house and they had a medic among them. And so they set up, supposedly it was to serve the people. And so the medic attended to people, gave shots, probably whatever, helped people that were sick. And I think there were four of them. They were in uniform.

Robert Klein: Did you have anything to do with them?

Judy Struve Muncrief: We were not to talk to them. You know, that was the bottom line of course. Now I won't, you know, the idea was that even if you saw them on the street, particularly if you saw them in public, you were not to acknowledge them, which was a little ridiculous. But because we didn't want to give the impression to the Dominicans that we were a part of that, you know, a part of it. So I remember talking, but I can't remember where that would have happened, to the major whatever. But just in passing. I mean, it wasn't anything that, you know, we didn't spend time together or anything like that. But they were there, right there, and it wasn't that large a town. It was a provincial capital, but it was clear out there next, not very far from the Haitian border, see, the border was very close. So, you know, they could call it a peacekeeping force.

Robert Klein: Were you near the coast or on the coast?

Judy Struve Muncrief: The southern coast. Not too, you know, relatively speaking, it was close to the southern coast. Yeah. Not all that.

Robert Klein: Let's go back to your arriving in the town, getting with a family. You're carrying your sewing machine.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I guess so. I can't remember. Somehow I got that sewing machine out there and I stayed with, you know, there must have been. I think there was a, there must have been a Dominican woman who had been assigned out there, maybe to develop schools. You know, that was a big thing. You build schools. It seems to me that there was somebody who was there who was leaving, so I believe I stayed with her or whoever she was living with for a short period of time until I could find a place to live.

Robert Klein: Was she bilingual?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No. No. And heaven only knows how I got by, because I didn't. Now, in hindsight, because I still use my language a lot now, and I've gotten a lot more proficient. And so in hindsight I think, how did I get by? I mean, what did I know how to say? I mean, I don't know. I truly don't. But anyway, it was helpful that I was not the first volunteer in that country, in that town. I mean, there were others, they were all men that had been there, and there was one that was leaving shortly. He'd been in, I think, well drilling or water, working with water.

Robert Klein: Did any of the old volunteers try to sort of take you aside to kind of clue you into what was going on?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. For example, where could I get a house, you know, where can I live? And let me think here again. I go over this one because I think that, yes, I probably found the first place that I lived from another volunteer who said, you know, they're renting this house. It was right there, downtown, on the public square. So after a period of time, I moved there.

Robert Klein: Alone?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, alone. And we took our meals. The other volunteers were accustomed to taking their meals with right there, up from where I lived, a woman who had a dining room for the public. It was her house, but she had tables set up and you could pay her by the month. And so volunteers, we got to know her very well, Dona Julia, and we took our meals there. But I also had a stove, you know, of my own and I could cook some.

Robert Klein: Just in sending you out to this village. You knew that the men had assignments under the community development ministry or department, whatever it was. What did Peace Corps say to you was your mission, since you were not going to be, would not have the cover of a ministry or department? Good luck?

Judy Struve Muncrief: If they said that much, they might have said that. But, you know, it was certainly a time of, um, insecurity is not the right word, but lack of direction I would say. Certainly it lacked, of course that's true in community development, right? I mean, you have to live with some of that. And of course, that had been my background. I mean, sociology is pretty nebulous too, right?

Robert Klein: Right.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Although I, that was not my background in terms of how I was raised, in terms of being from a farm and very, very concrete. Let's accomplish this and get this done. So but still, my sense was that I was supposed to see what was happening in the community. And eventually there was a Dominican woman who was assigned, probably to replace this woman that had gone to work with schools. And try to develop schools and try to do. Another big thing that I just remembered I worked on were anti-parasite campaigns, you know, because there were a lot of worms there and because of no shoes and poor water and all that.

Robert Klein: But you have no training in public health?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, not as such.

Robert Klein: Or in particular diseases?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, I certainly couldn't. We had a lot of training in Puerto Rico, but not the diseases. About what to expect about the food, about families, that sort of thing. But no, I couldn't give shots, and I'm glad I couldn't, of course, and wouldn't have, obviously. But this promotora, that's what they call the Dominican counterpart of the men, promoter, promatora, did. Could give shots, and so it wasn't an immunization campaign as such, now that I think about it. It was we would give the liquid anti-parasite medicine. Piperazine, it seems to me, was the name of that. And I think we got that, you know, got that through the CARE program, through the Catholic fathers that were there in town. There were two Belgium fathers there and great contacts for me. I could go up there and speak English and talk to them and read their Time magazine, etcetera. So anyway.

Robert Klein: Now the woman with whom you were working?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Mm hmm.

Robert Klein: What was her perception of who you are?

Judy Struve Muncrief: God only knows.

Robert Klein: OK. Did you become friends?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, as much as I could with my limited. You know, to be a friend to somebody, you've got to be able to communicate at some level besides the very.

Robert Klein: Joke and tell stories.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, exactly. But we did go out into the neighborhoods together and visited the different neighborhoods, and I spent a lot of time again walking. You know, there were like little barrios outside of this provincial capital, very poor areas, but somehow people were very open, you know, they'd invite you in for something to drink or whatever. So I spent a fair amount of time visiting this area and then I'd go over here and I'd establish some contacts and listen and.

Robert Klein: So just open ended, though, at that point.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah, pretty open ended. Eventually, I taught literacy in one of these poorer areas. The children were not in school.

Robert Klein: So let's take this first six months you're in the village. How often did you go back to the capital?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Not very often. I don't remember.

Robert Klein: How did you, what did you do about the first Thanksgiving and Christmas and all?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, let's see. I went in the middle of the year.

Robert Klein: Some homesickness in there somewhere.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Gosh, I guess so. I can't remember. But the fact that there were other volunteers there, so we got together. Sometimes they came in and they could come to my house, for example. I don't remember, but by that time I was probably teaching English as a second language because somebody else, a previous volunteer, there.

Robert Klein: In one of the barrios?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah, actually, that was in the main part of town. See, I was able to get to know some people at both ends of the economic scale. And the teacher of English in the high school and her daughter and a daughter of the restaurant owners and several other people that were in high school age. And the teacher, another teacher, were part of my first English as a Second Language group, and it was right there across the plaza from where I was. And they'd already learned some English.

Robert Klein: And so there was a structure there and they came to you.

Judy Struve Muncrief: They came to me and I had, I remember saying and thinking, saying probably to myself, I will not, you know, I'm not going there to teach English. That's not why I'm going there. But it was a great entree into the community. It was a great way to get to know people and for them to get to know me.

Robert Klein: But you didn't know anything about teaching English as a second language.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Probably not. I've done it since that time. And but there was a series of books that one could get from either USAID or the embassy. I got them in the capital city. And you just followed from one book to the next and there was a teacher's manual.

Robert Klein: How often would you meet with the group?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Often. That group, we met. I don't know.

Robert Klein: This was still within the first six months?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, the reason I'm relating back to this, it seems to me that part of that group and I got together like first Thanksgiving and so.

Robert Klein: Oh, OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Our first Christmas or something during that latter part of that year. I remember the pictures that were taken, and I remember this one student that was in my class. So they didn't, they had some sense that they didn't want me to be alone, either, you know, so that we would get them to come together and share food or whatever. But I think it was within that first six weeks. So, you know, I had to, I must have gone to the capital to pick up those books, but I don't remember.

Robert Klein: Yeah. All right.

Judy Struve Muncrief: But I didn't make a point of going to the capital.

Robert Klein: Let's turn it around. Did any of the Peace Corps staff come out to visit you?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes.

Robert Klein: During the first six months?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Um, I'll say yes. They came several times and I don't.

Robert Klein: What was the nature of their visits?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh, it was just some sense that they were seeing how we were doing personally, how we had adjusted. Because obviously one could get very detached from reality if you weren't careful. You've been there. You know, and you get isolated and you're beginning to wonder after a while, what am I doing here? And who cares? And so some of it was just to touch base with us.

Robert Klein: Did you go through that kind of, I mean?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, I'm sure. I mean, I did.

Robert Klein: At some point.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. Yeah.

Robert Klein: But was there a point within the first maybe half year where you said to yourself, oh my goodness, I'm a Peace Corps volunteer and I'm here and I'm doing this. In other words, was there any kind of joy or?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh yeah, yeah, I think so. It seems to me that there was enough joy that, oh yeah, I was having a great time.

Robert Klein: And how was your health during the first year?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Good, good. In fact, I never really never got that sick. I didn't get, I didn't have any major problems.

Robert Klein: Now for the village you were in, that whole area. Politically, was it stable?

Judy Struve Muncrief: For the most part, there was a.

Robert Klein: Other than the American soldiers with the helicopter.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. Yeah, I would say yes, it was. There was a, I keep saying fort. There was a military establishment there because that was very common in the provincial capitals.

Robert Klein: Dominican?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, where you saw men with uniforms and guns and things of that nature. But yes, it was quiet.

Robert Klein: And did anyone make political comments in your presence? Do you recall if you were, did people know you were an American?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh, yes, yes. And just once and it probably was more of a joke than anything else. But a son of the woman where we took our meals, yeah, had been to the capital city and evidently had been involved in some of this rebellion. And so I remember once, and I don't remember the context, but he said, go home Yankee. Which was a common, obviously common phrase in the capital, and on signs and everything else. But that was all and I didn't take it that seriously and everything.

Robert Klein: How were you getting general news during your first year anyway? You went up to the Belgian mission and got the Newsweek or Time?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh yes, that was true.

Robert Klein: Did you have a radio?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I had a radio that another volunteer. I don't think I had one to begin with because I think I got it from, well, maybe I did. I got it from another volunteer there in Neiba, bought it from him. But I can't recall that. Well, yeah, I could get at night an English language station from somewhere.

Robert Klein: And you hadn't been advised not to use the radio?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No.

Robert Klein: On the fear that someone would think it's a shortwave?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No.

Robert Klein: How about taking pictures?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No one had advised me from the Peace Corps not to take pictures. Yeah. But I began to gather that that probably wasn't always a good idea. But I didn't, I don't think I connected it at that time between them thinking I was a spy, although, or you know, or something of that nature. Because I don't think anybody was very sophisticated in those days about, oh my gosh, this American. But I mean, in terms of our group. But no one had ever said, don't, you know, be careful what pictures you take or be careful where you are with your camera. No.

Robert Klein: So the area you were in was relatively stable?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right.

Robert Klein: OK. By the end of the first year, did you take any vacation at all?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I never. Yes, I did go to Puerto Rico once, went back to Puerto Rico. And we, of course, couldn't come back to the United States, or were not supposed to. We could not come back to the United States. So I went to Puerto Rico once, and I believe I went back down into that southwest corner and visited my family, the family that I stayed with.

Robert Klein: Oh, OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And then several times in country, there was a favorite place that I would go. You take a public car to an area that was, it was green and verdant, and they grew strawberries and there was a motel there, hotel, that I could stay in and they had a sewing machine. And so I would frequently go up there and sew, you know, make clothes. Because I made, just because partly of necessity, I made a lot of my own clothes.

Robert Klein: By within the first year, sometimes people get a friend from within the culture, within the environment they're working in, who sort of becomes the informant or the mentor, you know? Did that happen with you?

Judy Struve Muncrief: If it did, it probably was not any kind of deep friendship but.

Robert Klein: Sure.

Judy Struve Muncrief: But let's say this one English class, the English class of the people from the center part of town, might advise me about, oh, don't go there. And I can remember one time when I was living in the first house. It had windows, not windows, but openings that with doors that you like a shutter that you pull shut and hook on the inside. And the son of the woman who. And I had those open one night. It was dark, but it wasn't late. And the son of the woman whose home that was came by and said that it was time to close, the time to close my doors. You know, was kind of looking out after me, you know, little things like that. But I would say that there was a young woman, her parents were from Taiwan, and they ran the little restaurant bakery right at the corner, right up there. Teresita was her name. And she had studied English before, and she wanted very badly to learn more. And she spoke, you know, she was in that English class.

Robert Klein: Right.

Judy Struve Muncrief: The in-town English class. And so she would tell me things. And some of the other, like the teachers that I got to know, would mention certain things. I'd get, you know.

Robert Klein: So if you saw something that you didn't understand or puzzled you, you did have some people you could go to could ask about it.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I sure could.

Robert Klein: By the end of the first year, how was your Spanish?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Much, much improved. Yeah.

Robert Klein: Do you recall if you had a sense of beginning to feel comfortable with the language?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I can remember. It was like a light bulb came on when this promotora was saying something to me, and it was in some subjunctive case. And I can remember, oh, that's what she means.

Robert Klein: By the end of the first year, what had you accomplished? You had the English as a Second Language class.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I had three different groups of them.

Robert Klein: Three by then?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, and two of them met in my house. So I'd had to have a blackboard made and had a table made, you know, things like that.

Robert Klein: Where did you get the funds for that?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't remember if I just took them out of, you know, we got paid. We would go to, um, there was a. Where was that man? He had a business there and a business probably in more than one town, but dry goods, that sort of thing. And he would cash our checks.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't remember how we got our checks. I can't remember if they came in the mail or what. But anyway.

Robert Klein: Were you writing home during this whole time?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. So letters were coming to me. So yes, I made regular trips to the post office.

Robert Klein: Would you be able to call home if you wanted?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I never did. I never did.

Robert Klein: Now did you have any further connection during that first year with the sewing machine?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, during those first months, I frequently. [tape break] Well, during that first, I don't know, probably six months, it was a matter of trying to decide where I could plug in, what was going on in town. What could I do? What should I do? How could I begin to understand if there was a niche? So I went back to the sewing school with some regularity to start with. Be there, see if there's anything I can do.

Robert Klein: Was it a private school?

Judy Struve Muncrief: It was a government school. That was my perception. This woman probably was being paid by the government. You know, and I began to notice, of course, that it wasn't always open when it was supposed to be. And you know, you begin to understand a little bit about my time frame in terms of punctuality and the little things that you know you don't even think about in terms of somebody says they're going to be somewhere at a certain time. You know, I expect them that they will, but you know, that didn't always happen. So that was part of the learning process too, of getting to know the culture. But I did go back there and I got to know some people there. I met some other people. I met another. I don't remember how I met this young woman, but she allowed me to come to her house and use her sewing machine. Didn't realize that sewing had such a lot to do with that first six months or so, but it seemed to have. It was an entree. You know, I got to know, I got to know some people.

Robert Klein: And in sewing, were you trying to demonstrate or teach?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Part of the time when I went to this other girl's house that I'd gotten to know quite well. No, it was just, I was sewing for myself, for the most part. Something to do. And they felt like they were offering, you know, their sewing machine, which they were, of course. Because I didn't have one. And you know, I'd talk to them, sit and talk to them and try to listen and try to improve, you know, learn more Spanish and learn about the community. And so I remember, you know, doing that for for a while, going back to school.

Robert Klein: Now were there, the other volunteers in town. Were any of them working on community development? I mean, did you bump up against them or were they just off on their own doing? I mean, I know you met them socially.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Pretty much off on their own.

Robert Klein: Doing what, do you remember?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, two of them that were assigned to areas near there were working with school development, but they weren't actually in Neiba. They were out away from Neiba in smaller communities, very isolated communities.

Robert Klein: School development in the sense of building them?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. Building a school. And they worked, some of them worked in tandem with a Dominican promotor, a male. And so again, gradually I ended up working with a Girl Scout group pretty regularly.

Robert Klein: How did that come about?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I have no idea.

Robert Klein: Was that during the first year still?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Probably started during that first year.

Robert Klein: Was there any kind of break between the first year and the second year or any sort of calling in conference in the capital?

Judy Struve Muncrief: We had periodic conferences, but I don't remember when they were, but we did have. We were called in, you know, and we went in for a few days.

Robert Klein: Did you ever get any kind of sense of someone telling you that, well, you're making progress or some sense of goal setting that, you know, knowing that you were only going to be there two years?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, I don't think that, you know. No, that did not happen.

Robert Klein: So what happened, in fact, is by being there and just bumping up against people in a sense and out of your own sense of your own skills and everything, you started the ESL. You worked with the sewing and now the Girl Scouts as well.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Worked with the Girl Scouts. And this was a group that had not been formed. And again, I can't, you know, probably word of mouth for these young women, young girls. We got uniforms and they all got their skirts and blouses. There was an English woman, Joyce. Joyce Megan, I believe it was something of that nature. Lived in the capital city and, you know, she may have visited Neiba and talked to me, but I don't recall. I know I went to her in the capital city. I went to her house and she would give me books.

Robert Klein: And was it Girl Guides or Girl Scouts?

Judy Struve Muncrief: These were Girl Scouts.

Robert Klein: Of course, the British equivalent is Girl Guides.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. And so, you know, the medals that they earned or whatever and the ceremony. In fact, I believe she came out to Neiba and did a ceremony. She spoke Spanish too.

Robert Klein: Do you have any counterpart in the Scouts or any parent group or?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No. No. These were just.

Robert Klein: The kids showed up.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And kids came and we did our activities.

Robert Klein: And where was it? Where did this take place?

Judy Struve Muncrief: In Neiba. And I'm trying to remember if they came to my house, I mean, I can't. They must have come to my house because we wouldn't have met in anybody else's house.

Robert Klein: Was there any nearby school?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Pardon me?

Robert Klein: Was there any school nearby?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah, but we didn't meet in the school.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Pretty much, you know, I remember we did a field trip to the grape. There were some grape places, places that were growing grapes, vineyards. I remember visiting there. Now when I went back to the Dominican a couple of years ago, they were selling grapes in the square, in the plaza. So grapes must have taken hold. But I worked with the Girl Scouts and I got to know them and some of their parents, but not well. I mean, I don't think the extension wasn't there, you know.

Robert Klein: It was the girls.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Obviously, you know, in those days, well, I don't know. You know, I was four hours out of the capital. If there was any connection, I don't know where the next Girl Scout group troop would have been frankly. But so worked for the Girl Scouts. The first summer I believe, actually after a year, that next summer, I was asked to go to another area of the Dominican Republic for those two, let's say, two months, I don't know, six weeks, two months. And teach in a 4-H camp there that was run probably by the extension service. And so I think I did recreation and health.

Robert Klein: Sports.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah. You know, regular, just calisthenics and that kind of thing, sports activities. Previous to that, somehow I had gotten connected for a short period of time with the Catholic school in Neiba, and there were nuns. One young nun in particular who was in charge, actually. So I did some recreation there too. They wanted some games for their students, and so we did that. So that was another, you know, here's the American and I could go here and I can do that.

Robert Klein: So did you begin to have a pretty full schedule?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes.

Robert Klein: It sounds to me like your days and evenings probably were quite busy.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Probably overextended. But then I think that's often the case when you're trying to find a reason for being there too, you know. And then there was no overall plan. You know, there was sometimes you got the sense of they just wanted to you here as a presence, you know, as a friendly American presence.

Robert Klein: “They” being Peace Corps?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Peace Corps. Exactly. Yeah. And um.

Robert Klein: No one from Peace Corps tried to move you toward some specific.

Judy Struve Muncrief: No. Although it must have been Peace Corps. Somehow that put me in connection with this 4-H.

Robert Klein: Well, yeah.

Judy Struve Muncrief: They had some sense that they needed. They needed something. They needed somebody up there to do this. And so I spent some time in that area and it was fun. That was good. Got to know some other younger Dominicans. Well, maybe Dominicans my age who were working with the extension service and you know, the government extension service.

Robert Klein: Now as you're in your second year, I mean, you begin to see that your tour is coming to an end. What was your evaluation of what you had done and what you would leave? I mean, was any of that at play?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, I think probably my sense was sometimes there was a futility involved because it was like I'd done all these little things out here. But what was the overall picture? You know, what was the connection? I had done some. I taught health, you know, in small groups. But you know, was it just one on one? Was there anything that you could string together? And probably not. Probably not.

Robert Klein: We're going back to the original model of needs assessment and getting the community involved. Did you berate yourself about that? Berate may be the wrong word.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Probably not. I do think there was some sense of, well, partly just being tired because you didn't have a sense of any progress, you know? And you probably don't in community development, except if you stay there for a long time or unless you develop a plan of action.

Robert Klein: So as you're in your second year, there wasn't one specific project you were going to try to nail down so that you, you know, by the end, you can say, well, I did.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I did this, huh? Probably not. Although I did end up going around some with this Dominican promotora. And I think she was working on some school, wanting to promote schools, but she didn't get very far. I mean, I think probably because the resources were so poor there, so lacking, and the government didn't have any more. Although the United States has been very involved with that country for a long time through USAID and aid. U.S. aid. So I think that they probably were supporting the community development program frankly.

Robert Klein: As you're in the second year coming near the end, were you at all tempted to extend?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, I don't recall that I was.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't recall that I was.

Robert Klein: Were there people who had trained with you and come over with you that, did anyone in the group try to extend your?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Hmm, I don't recall that. No, I don't remember that they did.

Robert Klein: So how did your service sort of wind down?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, another one of those trips to the capital city, of course, and it was sad leaving because I gotten to know so many people.

Robert Klein: How was your Spanish at that point?

Judy Struve Muncrief: A lot better. I mean, we did have a test, you know, as we left.

Robert Klein: Oh, really?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Had a U.S. Foreign Service exam.

Robert Klein: And you don't remember what level you got?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Don't remember what level I got to, but certainly several above what it was when I went into country, that's for sure.

Robert Klein: I would hope so, yeah.

Judy Struve Muncrief: That's for sure. That's for sure.

Robert Klein: And of your group, do you know if many left before the end of their tour, early terminations?

Judy Struve Muncrief: One girl did, I remember. You know what's interesting? I hardly ever saw the girls in my group again. I really got to know people from other groups that came in, maybe right after we did, or maybe some that were assigned down to that south, in that southwest corner. I don't ever remember, even we must have when we got together, I must have seen these people. You know, I just don't. I must not have connected emotionally or any other way to them that I recall them.

Robert Klein: Do you recall at the, during your second year, approximately how many volunteers were in the country?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't. Our group became very small. I would say we started out with 28. We were probably down to less than 15.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And some of those left, of course, in Puerto Rico. Some of them maybe decided themselves to leave.

Robert Klein: But there was for you anyway, and probably maybe for the others, there wasn't a strong group sense.

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, there was not.

Robert Klein: You know, we're Dominican Republic VI and we're going to make it kind of thing.

Judy Struve Muncrief: There was not.

Robert Klein: OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And in talking to my husband about his group, I realized that they had a strong group sense. They rallied for everybody.

Robert Klein: There are various reasons for that.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Exactly.

Robert Klein: You finished. You left the village with some sadness.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes.

Robert Klein: Did you do a self-assessment of what you had achieved?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Probably just for myself. I'm sure I did, and I'd probably continue to do that, as you know, as I reflect on that. And I did go back a couple of years ago.

Robert Klein: In effect, I'm asking in leaving, did you feel satisfied with yourself for what you had accomplished in two years? I mean, you made it for two years.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Exactly. If that was my goal, to stay there for two years, I certainly made it. I didn't make any major enemies. I think I gave them a fairly positive impression of an American.

Robert Klein: And you felt that was part of your being there.

Judy Struve Muncrief: That was part of my being there during that period of time. I got to know people from, again, a broad spectrum of community from, you know, from kids that we had the parasite campaign to, you know, the teachers.

Robert Klein: And the Girl Scouts.

Judy Struve Muncrief: The Girl Scouts, the priests.

Robert Klein: And now when you finish, I guess there's a conference in the capital.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right.

Robert Klein: What were your plans beyond?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, somewhere I had been told or been asked to consider going into a, being part of the staff of a training program for those that were going back to the Dominican.

Robert Klein: Oh, OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: So I ended up going back to Iowa first, but I think I already had lined up this three or four month job in California, where there were training teachers to go back to the Dominican.

Robert Klein: To the Dominican Republic?

Judy Struve Muncrief: So I was part of that training program.

Robert Klein: Was it the first teaching program to go there?

Judy Struve Muncrief: You know, it might have been. It was a big deal. You know, I remember it being a very.

Robert Klein: Were there hundreds in the training program?

Judy Struve Muncrief: No, no, not that one.

Robert Klein: Where did they train?

Judy Struve Muncrief: At San Diego State University in California.

Robert Klein: And you had a fair amount of teaching experience?

Judy Struve Muncrief: But I didn't have formal teaching, but what they wanted was somebody who'd been in country, a volunteer, who knew something about the culture or something about the history, learning about what it was like to live there.

Robert Klein: Were you asked to do formal lectures or you just would hang around and let people talk to you?

Judy Struve Muncrief: There was a lot of one on ones, but I did do some talking to the group at the same time. Yeah, yeah.

Robert Klein: Or the women separately, perhaps.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah, that could have been it too.

Robert Klein: When you first went back to Iowa, was it a triumphal return?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Oh yeah. But a lot of culture shock in terms of, oh my gosh, look at all we have here. Look at all the, you know, over choice that we have, all the things that there are. But yeah, it was good. It was.

Robert Klein: Just take the initial period back. Did you feel that you could begin to explain the Dominican Republic to the people within your community?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah, up to a point. Yeah. Up to a point.

Robert Klein: Did you talk to church groups?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I did. Not a lot, but I did talk to several groups and had slides and things like that. So I had some slides.

Robert Klein: With the working in San Diego for the training program, was there any further connection with Peace Corps? You weren't invited to become a staff member?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Not after that, no.

Robert Klein: And you were satisfied with what you had done?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right.

Robert Klein: What happened next?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well, again, I don't recall where this offer came from or if there was a list. Or anyway, I ended up taking a job in Laredo, Texas, with the Laredo Webb County Health Department as a health educator.

Robert Klein: Wow.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yeah. With their migrant program.

Robert Klein: So you needed to use your Spanish?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Right. And I did. And it got better. And so I worked in health education there, particularly in the tuberculosis program, because they had, it was one of their major campaigns in the health department there and loved it.

Robert Klein: Then through the years, what do you think was the influence of your Peace Corps service on you and the choices you made beyond? It doesn't have to be cosmic.

Judy Struve Muncrief: I mean, oh, it probably won't be at this time of the day. Yeah, well, certainly. I haven't reflected on that actual question for a long time, but because it's so much a part of me now, so much, you know, my experience of being in another country and seeing certainly one, and I was never the same since that time. But being outside of my own culture, seeing how other people live, and living there myself. Just being having my eyes open to the world, because again, when you're 21, 22, your eyes really aren't open and there's no. You believe that they are, but they're not, you know. It's just a matter of living. And um, as I said, I've never been the same. I've never seen things the same since that time.

Robert Klein: Did you have any continuing involvement with Dominican Republic or with international programs?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Only in the sense that I've always supported financially programs that were either part of the church, for example, that were helping, or things of that nature where I could help financially.

Robert Klein: And you married a returned volunteer.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Well actually, this is my second marriage.

Robert Klein: Oh, okay.

Judy Struve Muncrief: So my first marriage was to a Methodist minister. So then I spent 16 years of my life, uh, moving around in Texas, um, being minister's wife and doing the kinds of things that ministers' wives do and getting involved. And I was very involved in social concerns, that was my really my.

Robert Klein: And you kept your facility in Spanish?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. I sure did. And um, during that time, I taught English as a Second Language in a Methodist school there in Laredo and um, taught. Let's see. I did some other work, you know, volunteer work and ended up getting a degree, my master's in psychology and counseling, went into counseling.

Robert Klein: What went into the return trip? You've only been back once to the Dominican Republic?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Mm hmm.

Robert Klein: How did it come about?

Judy Struve Muncrief: It was a Peace Corps reunion. Let's see. Was it 40 years Peace Corps had been in country? Anyway, it was all groups were invited back.

Robert Klein: Oh, OK.

Judy Struve Muncrief: So it wasn't, I didn't go by myself. I went as a group, but I went to the country to meet with others. And so it was a conference. So we got to meet the Dominican president and.

Robert Klein: And Peace Corps had stayed in Dominican Republic all through the years?

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes. They've been there and still are there.

Robert Klein: And you had a chance to go back to your village?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I went back, yes, by myself.

Robert Klein: Did anyone remember you?

Judy Struve Muncrief: They did! And I remembered them, and they remembered me.

Robert Klein: That's great.

Judy Struve Muncrief: And tracked down the family that I had eaten with, had spent time with, you know, their children, I watched them for two years, and tracked them down in the capital city. And got to talk to them. And yeah, it was, uh, it's a little overwhelming, of course, when you go back and you see how things have changed and you realize, you know, even in Neiba how things have changed. But hey, that's normal. That was probably what, 40, 35 or 40 years that I'd left there. So um yeah. But it was a good experience.

Robert Klein: Anything else you'd like to mention about your service or?

Judy Struve Muncrief: I don't think so right now. I do remember a real funny incident way back before I went to the Peace Corps. You know, I wasn't aware of that my neighbors were being interviewed about my character.

Robert Klein: Oh, the FBI background checks.

Judy Struve Muncrief: Yes, and they went to our near neighbor, the next farm. And I think he asked Dad afterwards, why were they asking all those questions about your daughter? You know, I thought it was real, it was real funny. And Dad thought it was too, that they were asking all those personal questions about character and what I was involved with and all that. So I can't think of anything, Bob, right now.

Robert Klein: OK, we can stop.

Judy Struve Muncrief: All right.