 Hello, my name is Kendery, I am a fifth grader and I'm here with Rose Kent. And I'm Rose Kent. I am a veteran. I served in the Navy for nine years. What branch of service were you in? I was in the Navy. I started at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland as a midshipman, which is the rank or the title you get when you're at the Naval Academy, whether you are a boy or a girl. And I served for nine years and when I left the Navy I had the rank of Navy Lieutenant. Why did you choose to go into the military? I chose to go to the military because when I was in high school, during that period, for the first time, the Navy announced that they would open the Naval Academy to women. Before that, only men could go to the academy. And I was a bit of a tomboy in school and just the idea of going to the academy because it wasn't like just going to a college. Because when you go to one of the service academies, you have to do all the academic requirements of college. But you kind of have to major in Navy at the Naval Academy. Take a lot of Navy nautical classes. But you also have to meet a lot of physical requirements, running and obstacle course and pushups and that sort of thing. And you also have a lot of military requirements, marching with a rifle on your shoulder and going aboard ships in the summer for training. And when I heard about this opportunity, that I was open to women, it sounded like a real challenge to me. And I hadn't any military experience in my family. But my dad was a true patriot. He really taught me to love the country, our country. So when I heard about this opportunity, I just really wanted to go. How long were you in the military? The Naval Academy experience was four years. It started literally days after I graduated from high school. I went to boot camp. It was called Plebe Summer in the Navy. And that lasted all summer. And then I stayed at the Naval Academy for four years. And when I graduated, I received my oath of office and became an officer. And I served in the Navy for five years. So it was a total of nine. Where did you serve and like what countries and states? Well, when I was in the Navy, things have changed. And I think they've changed for the better because women today who go into the Navy can do just about everything that the men can do. So if you would decide to go into the Navy, and you'd do great in the Navy because the Navy likes bright young women, you could do whatever you wanted. You could go aboard a submarine. You could fly any of the Navy's, any of the jets. You could command on a ship. You'd go into the Marine Corps. But when I was at the Academy, although they let us into the Academy, it was still restricted as far as what they would allow women to do. So some of those opportunities weren't there for me. So when I graduated, the first thing I did was I was stationed in Washington, DC as part of the Navy's administrative board. And I served there for a few years. And from there, I went to San Antonio, which was a joint command, meaning all the branches of service were there. So most of the time I was in the Navy. I was really unsure. I wasn't a board ship. But I did have a few nice experiences, including one stunt where I was on a destroyer for four weeks, the USS Iowa. And that was really exciting. I flew over to Germany. I met the ship in Germany. And we came back to Norfolk, Virginia. And that was terrific. What was military training like? Military training, it was demanding. You know, a lot was expected. You had to get up super early in the morning for the sun, go out there and run a few miles, run hard, run fast. It was summertime in Maryland, so it was so hot and sticky. And people were yelling at you a lot for a lot of things that seemed kind of silly in the time. But you learn as you're going through it. It's just really kind of a game that they play to see if you're tough enough if you can take it. So I found the training hard. But I also learned to really dig inside myself and to really rely on my classmates who became my teammates in the Navy. What machines did you use in the military? Machines. Well, again, I was more in administrative capacity, so I didn't do too much with machinery. But in my second assignment when I was at a joint command, that was a really interesting place. It was called the Joint Electronic Warfare Command. Nicknamed was called the Duke. But that was a little bit of the kind of spying, if you will, that goes on. At the time, we were in the Cold War, where we were really looking at Russia as a major threat. And so we did a lot of, we had a lot of ways to check on their equipment and their radars. So there was a lot of high-tech gear going on there. And a lot of it was classified. So we couldn't really talk too much about what we did. What did you eat while serving? What did I eat? Well, the Navy had pretty good food, actually. I think we were really spoiled. So I ate a lot of the things that I still eat. I ate a lot of ice cream. I ate a lot of good, healthy food. And I had a good amount of snacks, too, when I was standing watch. What did you like to do in your free time while you were in the military? My free time, I liked to run. I really enjoyed running. I did some road races and whatnot. I loved to write, which really led to my career now that I write children's books for a living. And I really did a lot of that in my spare time in the Navy. The Navy gave me a lot of opportunity to do that, even aboard ship. I would serve a watch on the ship, and then I would have a break time. And I would go and sit down and I would write stories. Did you earn any medals or citations? I did. I earned a number of medals. I served not during a period of combat. I certainly wasn't like the brave men and women today who have to deal with combat situations and their assignments. But I did earn a few medals when I left the service for leadership. Was serving the military a positive or negative experience for you? It was a really positive experience for me, Kennedy. I think it really, it taught me to dig deep within myself. And I think so many of the lessons I learned at the Naval Academy about dealing with some tough things carried on and stayed with me for the rest of my life. So it was really positive. I learned to believe in myself. I learned to work really hard and not use excuses because when you're going through that plebe summer kind of boot camp, the last thing you're going to do is use an excuse why you didn't do something because you get in a lot of trouble for excuses. So I definitely learned that. And I learned about relying on teammates, classmates, my peers because the Navy is just a gigantic team of everybody in uniforms. You really can't get your job done without counting on other people and them counting on you. What was the hardest part of serving in the military? The hardest part. I got some really good questions, Kennedy. Well, I guess in the beginning it was challenging because the Academy and the Navy were still really getting used to having women and they weren't quite sure what to do with us. So there were some challenges. For the most part, the people were terrific that I served with. But there were some people, especially early on, at the Academy that weren't too happy about women being there and they would give us a hard time, the women in general. And it was a tough enough experience to get through with all the challenges of the military demands and the physical demands, getting yelled at and trying to get your work done, marching on a super hot day in a very stiff dress uniform. But if you added to that the feeling that some people didn't want you to be there, that was hard. But again, those people were in the minority. What is your proudest accomplishment while you were in the military? I think serving my command in various capacities, one of them was kind of a sad experience, but I'm proud about the way we did it while I was serving in San Antonio. An enlisted chief who worked for me, he died very suddenly and unexpectedly. And it was very hard on him. It was very hard on his family. And he had requested, before he passed away, to be buried at sea. So we had to make that happen. And here we were in San Antonio, Texas, no ocean. And we had to figure out how to do that at a very busy time for the United States Navy. So it took a lot of logistics. It was a hard thing to do because we were all very sad because we really cared and respected this person. So I'm proud the way everybody pulled together and made this happen and really gave him a wonderful send-off at the end of his life. What is your favorite memory from serving in the military? I have many happy memories. I shared that I was aboard the USS Iowa, the destroyer. And I came back with a ship from Germany, from Kiel, Germany, the north of Germany. But those who aboard the ship for the longer amount of time, they had been on that ship probably maybe four or five months before I got on. So by the time we got back from Germany, when we came into Norfolk, Virginia, some of those young enlisted folks, they had families now. Some of them, their wives had given birth to babies. So when a ship comes back into port, it's just so exciting because the bands are waiting for them right there on the pier to welcome them on. And everybody comes on the deck of the ship. And so they're slowly bringing that ship back into the harbor and the bands playing and kids are jumping up and down and cheering. And it's just an overwhelmingly exciting, proud moment to just have anything to do with the Navy. What is your job now? I am a children's book author. I write novels for children, middle grade children who look a lot like you. How long after you finished serving, did you start writing books? It was a while. I left the service and I worked in Corporate America. I worked for a big food company actually. You might be familiar with some of their products. I work for Craft Foods, makers of macaroni and cheese, right? Velveeta, they make a lot of different products. But I worked for them in Chicago in their public relations department for a number of years. And I really enjoyed that. I learned so much about food, not just how it tastes, but the role food plays in people's lives, which later influenced the books I write because I write a lot about kids and food and foods they like. And then after I left Craft, I was a freelance writer for a number of years. And then I started having my own family and really loved reading with my children and wanting to have quality books out there for them to read. And that's when I started writing novels. Is there anything else you would like people to know about your military service? I'm just so grateful that I had the opportunity to serve this country. Sometimes I think they'll see a commercial on television for a military person or hear about the military and it just sounds so high and lofty, but there are just so many everyday wonderful people walking around who serve in the military or who could one day, and I want them to know what a wonderful experience it was for me and if they have any interest in it to pursue it because it's a terrific work that changes your life and it really helps you whatever you end up doing for the rest of your life. Thank you so much for letting me introduce you today. Thank you, Kennedy. You've been a great interviewer.