Scope and Contents

The collection consists of approximately one linear foot of materials including periodicals, newsletters, photographs, and documents detailing general information about the Vietnam Women Veterans Association. These materials include informational pamphlets and booklets from the war period and were received by Vietnam Archive staff at the Vietnam Women Veterans Association reunion in San Antonio, Texas in 2001.

The photographs were taken 1969-1971 while Claire Starnes was on the staff of the MACV Observer (a publication of theU.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, Saigon). These photographs were ones the publication decided not to use, and include photographs of a school bombing that took place near Tay Ninh in 1970. The materials date from 1965-1971 with bulk dating from 1969-1971. Also included are 4 oversized photographs (no dates) depicting female soldiers performing various activities.

Biographical / Historical

Claire Brisebois Starnes (1 February 1944 - 24 January 2022) was born in Biddeford, Maine, and grew up in Lewiston.

She enlisted in the Women's Army Corps in 1963, and in 1969 she volunteered for service in Vietnam. She was initially assigned to the U.S. Army Engineer Construction Agency, Vietnam (USAECAV) at Long Binh in February 1969. In June 1969, she transferred to the Joint Headquarters of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) Office of Information until July 1971. She eventually became a photojournalist for the publication, The Observer, earning the military occupational specialty of Public Information Specialist.

Following her Vietnam service, she was assigned to the Public Information Office at Fort Monroe, Virginia where she met Edward C. Starnes, an Army journalist. They were married on 12 April 1973, and later that year they both were discharged from the military and became civilian employees of the Department of the Army. Claire took time off to attend the University of Texas at El Paso, and received her degree in 1981 in Mass Communications with emphasis on print journalism. She joined Ed at the Public Information Office at Fort Bliss (Texas) and was made assistant editor of the command's official worldwide technical magazine, Air Defense Artillery.

In 1987, the Starnes’ moved to jobs at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Claire became editor of the Ordnance Corps’ official worldwide technical journal, Ordnance Magazine, while Ed became Public Information Officer for the Ordnance Corps. Claire retired in 1994 with 31 years of government service with the U.S. Army. In 2006, Claire and her late husband became the first and only husband/wife team to be inducted into the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame.

While little was known about them, over the years of the Vietnam War, an estimated 1,200 military women other than nurses served in country. In February 1999, Claire and Precilla Landry Wilkewitz, a former roommate in Long Binh, co-founded the non-profit organization, Vietnam Women Veterans, Inc. (VWV). The VWV’s purpose was to find all the line and staff officers and enlisted women who had served in Vietnam throughout the war. By November 1999, more than 700 deceased and living of these women had been found. That month, the VWV held its first conference in Olympia, Washington.

Throughout the years, Claire continued searching for the women and researching the histories of how these women had come to be stationed in South Vietnam. This little-known group of Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy left its mark in Vietnam from 1962 to 1973, serving in a myriad of duties such as intelligence analysts, flight controllers, clerk-typists, translators, physical therapists, dietitians, communications specialists, photojournalists, finance clerks and couriers. Seventeen years in the making, the work they did led to the publication of the book "Women Vietnam Veterans: Our Untold Stories" (by Donna A. Lowery, AuthorHouse, 2015) was published.

To further share information about the service of women Vietnam veterans, Claire toured tje U.S. for almost four years, making her audiences aware of these women. She lectured at the History Department of the US Army Military Academy at West Point and at several universities. She has done live and recorded radio and television interviews in Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, California and Texas among others; and has recorded several Oral History interviews. The BBC sent a photo-journalist to do a photograph essay for publication in England. In addition, she had a one-year display of items and photos at the Prince Charles Regimental Museum in Hull, England. She is also a permanent part of a world-traveling exhibition originating in England.

[VNCA NOTE: Biographical information was added in July 2023 from her obituary at https://www.peasleefuneralhome.com/obituary/claire-starnes ]