Wife rises to life in military.

Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist

LANCASTER - Military wives are a special breed of people who learn to roll with the punches, accept change and ask few questions, Marjorie Saunders says.

Her late husband, Ted, was a career Air Force officer whose jobs included several dangerous assignments both overseas and in the United States.

``You learned not to talk. You let them do the talking for you. You couldn't get into trouble that way,'' she said.

They were married June 27, 1942, in an Episcopal church in Dayton, Ohio.

Ted Saunders served as a bombardier/navigator instructor stateside during World War II. There followed a succession of station changes and the war ended before he was sent to Germany as a bomb disposal officer from 1946 through 1947.

Marjorie was horrified when he told her his job.

He took her out to the job site to show her all the precautions that were taken but her fears were never quite assuaged.

``That was before there was such a thing as hazard pay,'' she said.

She said witnessing Germany's devastation gave her an entirely different perspective on war.

``You don't know about war until you see the leftovers for yourself. You can see things on television or read about them in the paper but until you actually see how it was, you don't know. Until you actually feel the trauma deep down inside, you don't really know.''

She said: ``I saw people - some women and children - go out to trash bins with big aprons to get what they could to take home. They'd have burlap wrapped around their feet.''

When the couple left Germany they spent some time at an Azores refueling base on the island of Terceira. Their daughter, Karen, was born there.

After the Azores Islands, they came back to the United States, to Terrin Air Force Base in Texas, followed by an Office of Special Investigations assignment in Washington, D.C.

``Everywhere we went I served on the board of the wives' clubs and we women frequently discussed changes of station - the best places and the worst places to be sent,'' she said.

At one of those discussions she heard about the ``absolute worst place in the world'' to be stationed - Muroc, now Edwards Air Force Base.

``The men discussed it, too,'' she laughed, ``and the ones who had been here told the others who were coming to always bring their wives in at night.''

So when one day, when her husband came home and announced, ``Well, we're going to California,'' she was suspicious.

``Where in California?'' she asked.

``Edwards Air Force Base,'' he said without elaborating.

``That's all he would say so I prudently didn't press him for more information.''

She said they drove across country from Ohio, where he had just finished college summa cum laude, to Needles, where they made an overnight stop.

``It was as hot all night as it was during the daytime. That was my introduction to California and I started to wonder what we were getting into. I asked him, 'Do some people live underground out here?'''

When the family arrived in Rosamond, they checked into a motel and stayed until they were assigned housing on base.

When she finally realized they were at the dreaded Muroc, she confronted her husband.

``Did you know from the beginning that we were coming to Muroc?'' she asked. ``Why didn't you tell me?''

``Because we had a long way to go across country,'' he grinned.

She said she really enjoyed her husband's time in the service in spite of all the moves they had to make.

``It certainly kept the closets cleaned out,'' she said.

Their two daughters, Patricia Ann Williams, of Coarsegold, and Karen Jane Franklin, of Lancaster, grew up in the Antelope Valley.

``They took the military life pretty much in stride,'' she said. ``The hardest part for them was moving into Lancaster when Ted retired. Patty had to leave all her school friends at Desert High School where she was into everything and finish up at Antelope Valley High School.''

She said military wives do a lot of club work and volunteering and she was no exception.

She was in the Joshua Tree Council of the Girl Scouts of America for years and volunteered for the United Way.

She was awarded a lifetime membership in the PTA, a lifetime membership in the Girl Scouts and became a member of the Antelope Valley Genealogical Society.

She joined the Antelope Valley Toastmistress Club to gain public speaking skills and loved it. She also performed as a clown for eight years.

``We went to retirement homes, hospitals, children's parties and places like that. I don't say we were always that good but sometimes they asked us back,'' she said, grinning.

When Ted Saunders retired from the Air Force in 1964 he went to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration so they remained here.

He retired from NASA in 1971 and died in 1972, on their 30th anniversary, from complications of a brain tumor.

After his Air Force retirement he became a charter member of the Retired Officers Association. When he died she was reticent to attend the meetings and social functions even though she continued to get invitations and notices.

``Karen kept after me about it, urging me to go and give it a try, so one night I did,'' she said.

On the way to the meeting, she decided if there was a parking space in front she'd go in. If there wasn't, she'd turn around and leave.

``When I drove into the parking lot, a car was pulling out of a space right in front of the entry,'' she said. ``It was an answer to prayer. I stayed and I was glad I did. I've never felt so welcome anywhere in my life. I'll never forget it.''

She is a two-year mastectomy survivor and member of the local chapter of Why Me? Women of Courage, a cancer-survivors' organization she credits with helping her keep a positive attitude and sense of humor.

She said her life has always revolved around her family and it has expanded from her children to her grandchildren and 2-year-old greatgrandson Nicky.

If she had a hobby they would be it, she said.

``I've curtailed most of my other activities and slowed down now. Instead, doctors are part of my social life these days.''

Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and South Valley have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk for a donation of $2.

Monday: Braised beef and noodles, green beans, marinated salad, strawberry ice cream.

Tuesday: Chili egg puff, chili beans, spinach, creamy coleslaw, peaches.

Wednesday: Barbecued chicken, rice pilaf, Normandy vegetables, lettuce/tomato salad, cheese cake.

Thursday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn Niblets, cottage cheese with pineapple, banana.

Friday: Baked fish fillet, baked potato, parsleyed carrots, garden salad, lime Jell-O with pineapple.

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Marjorie Saunders rose to the challenge of military life.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News