https://veteranstories.kennesaw.edu/files/original/afd8531c27cbcc9705f3d2aa363eef26.JPG 3d22c03e3bfae51030bef5321732f8e6 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource U.S. Army Technician Carmen Contreras Bozak Description An account of the resource ID: Black and white portrait of a Latina woman with brown hair wearing a U.S. Army Uniform Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource U.S. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived VOCES U.S. Latino and Latina World War II Oral History Project, the University of Texas at Austin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 1944 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Rights Reserved https://veteranstories.kennesaw.edu/files/original/c186932cdeaddb14a1d50488fd931648.JPG a35ececa00af785883f27c4d93ce9f86 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Members of the 149th WAAC Post Headquarters Company at Daytona Beach, Florida, after their training. Description An account of the resource ID: A group of five white women wearing U.S. Army Uniforms standing in front of a vine-covered building. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource U.S. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived U.S. Latino and Latina World War II Oral History Project The University of Texas at Austin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1942 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Rights Reserved https://veteranstories.kennesaw.edu/files/original/e421ed97f1b63917ed2c51009320b66b.JPG 0a1f023fa94d2b4df092e6a558aed062 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Carmen Contreras Bozak in Algiers Description An account of the resource ID: A woman with light tan skin wearing a shawl wrapped around her head and covering the lower part of her face, wearing a skirt that comes to mid-thigh, standing in front of umbrellas on the beach. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource U.S. Army, Carmen Contreras Bozak Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived VOCES Oral History Project University of Texas at Austin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 1943 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Rights Reserved https://veteranstories.kennesaw.edu/files/original/85a7f7d2706084349949661c086575cf.JPG 9cc78481331371fa43b433239776b825 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Carmen Contreras Bozak in front of the Colosseum in Rome, Italy Description An account of the resource ID: A woman with light-tan skin standing, wearing a tan Army uniform, stands beside a man in a soldier's uniform with a tri-corner hat, in front of a large round building with three storeys of arches. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Carmen Contreras Bozak Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived VOCES Oral History Project University of Texas Austin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1944 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Rights Reserved https://veteranstories.kennesaw.edu/files/original/ca60c7156e9f47f419398411aa82c3b6.JPG fc49d0b56b5a4bf0e57adce36df7a689 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Carmen Contreras Bozak in her Army Uniform Description An account of the resource ID: Full-length black and white portrait of a woman standing at attention, wearing a brown Army WAAC uniform Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource U.S. Army Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived VOCES Oral History Project University of Texas at Austin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 1944 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Rights Reserved https://veteranstories.kennesaw.edu/files/original/f67c6eb6611e47daceb536f30672fa0a.JPG ee03ac253ea98b9ea6776b583f74aedf Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Technician Carmen Contreras Bozak at a VA Ceremony Description An account of the resource ID: Color photograph of Carmen Contreras Bozak as an older woman, wearing a dark dress Army uniform, holding an American flag in front of a podium where veterans salute. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Veterans of Foreign Wars Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived VOCES Oral History Project, University of Texas Austin Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource ca. 2000s Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Rights Reserved Curatescape Story A narrative body of text being sent to Curatescape mobile applications or being displayed using Curatescape themes. Please use relevant Dublin Core fields for Title, Creator, and other key elements as needed. Subtitle A subtitle or alternate title for the entry. WAC, Codebreaker, Pathbreaker Lede A brief introductory section that is intended to entice the reader to read the full entry. "Oh, I had to go. I thought, it'll be a change. I'll get to travel. I was so happy that I did join, that I got a good job." ~Carmen Contreras Bozak, VOCES Oral History Project, 2002 Sponsor The name of a person or organization that has sponsored the research for this specific entry. Use HTML to create an active link. Kennesaw State University Department of Museums, Archives, and Rare Books Factoid One or more facts or pieces of information related to the entry, often presented as a list. Examples include architectural metadata, preservation status, FAQs, pieces of trivia, etc. Use HTML to create bullet lists and headings. 1919 - 2017 Related Resources The name of or link to a related resource, often used for citation information. https://foundationforwomenwarriors.org/carmen-contreras-bozak-technician-4th-grade-u-s-army/ https://voces.lib.utexas.edu/collections/stories/carmen-conteras-bozak Story The primary full-text for the entry. Born on New Years Eve 1919, in Cayey, Puerto Rico, near San Juan, Carmen Contreras was the oldest of the three children of Lila Baudilia Lugo Torres, a seamstress and single mother. In 1919, the residents of the territory of Puerto Rico, had only been considered U.S. citizens for two years. As a child, Contreras moved with her family to New York City. After graduating from high school, she took the Civil Service exam and became a payrollcerk in the Wark Department Office in Wasington, D.C. She was there when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and her work for the War Department encouraged her to join the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in 1942. Contreras became the first Hispanic woman to join the WAAC, recruited for her bilingual skills. In January 1943, Contreras sailed to Europe wih the first cadre of WAACs, the 195 women of the 149th WAAC Company. Stationed in Algiers with the signal corps, Contreras worked as a telephone operator, sending and receiving coded messages from the battlefield. Not far from the action, Contreras recalled four air raids and a bomb dropped near her barracks during her 18 months of overseas service. From Algiers, Contreras was transferred to Caserta, Italy where she had the opportunity to meet the pope while on a pass. She was discharged honorably with the rank of Technician 4th Grade in July 1945. After the war, while recovering from an eye infection in a VA hospital, she met and married Army veteran Theodore Bozak with whom she raised two sons and a daughter. Although she never felt that she suffered any discrimination because of her gender or Puerto Rican heritage, Bozak did say in an interview that she regretted not teaching her children to speak Spanish and about her cultural heritage. Later in life, Carmen Contreras Bozak remained devoted to the U.S. Army, volunteering at the Oakland Park VA Outpatient Clinic and attending Veterans of Foreign Wars meetings. She started a chapter of the WAC Vets in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1989 and founded a chapter of the Society of Military Widows in 1998, seven years after her husband's death. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Carmen Contreras-Bozak Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Museum of History and Holocaust Education Subject The topic of the resource World War II 149th WAAC Post Headquarters Company 1942 - 1945 Cryptography Hispanic Interpreter Latina Puerto Rican American Technician 4th Grade U.S. Army Woman Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) World War II