Interviewer(s): Lauren Penney; Joanna Stone, Colleen O'Donnell. Morgan City, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

During Santo Rousso's interview for the D-Day Museum, he mentioned that his wife had served in the Women's Army Corps, so Diane and Joanna asked her if she would be willing to participate. The interview was set up for the next week, to be held in her home as she has trouble walking.

Stella Rousso was born Marie Stella Peltier in Baldwin, Louisiana in 1920. Her father was a bridge tender for the railroad, and the family moved to Bayou Boeuf, Morgan City and finally Jennings, where Stella finished high school. She worked in a department store for awhile before hearing about the Women's Auxiliary on the radio. She and a cousin decided to enlist, and Stella served for 3 years in the aircraft warning service and as a base operations specialist in Portland, Maine and at Westover Field, Massachusetts. Upon her return to Morgan City, she worked as a payroll clerk for Riverside, then moved with her husband and two daughters all over the south following his job with Mobil. When he finally got on offshore, Stella got a job with the city, from which she retired in 1983.