Rachel J. Farrior

Rachel J. Farrior. Image Source: East Carolina Yearbooks, Tecoan, 1940. UA50-01. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Rachel J. Farrior was born in Burgaw, N.C., February 17, 1919, the daughter of David John Farrior, Jr. (1887-1967) and his wife, Lela Johnson Farrior (1891-1944). She attended Meredith College for one year, studying art and costume design, and then finished her undergraduate degree at ECTC majoring in home economics and science.

On October 1, 1942, Farrior pioneered a course later pursued by a number of ECTC female alumni by taking advantage of newly established opportunities for women in the armed services. That day, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) at Fort Bragg as an aviation cadet in the Army Air Corps just five months after WAAC was established on May 15, 1942. A year later, WAAC was converted from an auxiliary corps to the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), an active-duty program for women in the U. S. Army, making Farrior a full-fledged member of the U.S. Army.

In the spring of 1943, Farrior was stationed at Camp Polk, Louisiana, working as a “Air WAC” with the Air Corps in the Aircraft Warning Service. By the fall of 1943, she was one of 17 ECTC female alumni serving their country, and according to the Teco Echo, the first known female alumni to serve overseas, in her case, in North Africa. By the fall of 1944, she had been promoted to corporal and was serving in Italy. During her tour of duty in WWII, from 1942 to 1945, Farrior rose to the rank of technical sergeant.

WWII brought both tragedy and new beginnings to Farrior: in December of 1944, her brother, Lt. Julian W. Farrior, 28, was killed in action in Westphalia, Germany. Her two other brothers, Pvt. William Vance Farrior (1926-1947) and Lt. Alan R. Farrior (1921-2004), also served in WWII in the Army. However, it was also while overseas that Farrior met Staff Sergeant Carlyle H. Buckard (1918-1998), a New Jersey native then serving in the U. S. Army with the Signal Wing Company of the Twelfth Fighter Command in the Mediterranean. They married in 1946, shortly after the war ended. The Buckards lived in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. where they raised four children. Following her husband’s retirement from New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, the couple moved to Cape Coral, Florida. She passed away there on April 16, 2010.

Sources:

• “Alumni in Uniform.” Teco Echo. March 11, 1944. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37934
• “Army WACS Help Fill Vacancies At Army Posts.” Teco Echo. March 11, 1944. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37934
• “Arrives in Africa.” News and Observer. October 25, 1943. P. 5.
• Brown, Rosalie. “With the Armed Forces.” Teco Echo. October 29, 1943. P. 2. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37927
• “Completes Two Years with Signal Company.” Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey). October 2, 1944. P. 7.
• “East Carolina Has 312 Alumni Listed in Armed Services.” Teco Echo. November 12, 1943. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37928
• “Former Burgaw Man Killed In Germany: Lt. Julian W. Farrior Killed in Action; Went Overseas in October, 1943.” News and Observer. December 6, 1944. P. 7.
• “Mrs. D. T. Farrior.” News and Observer. October 22, 1944. P. 2.
• “Rachel Farrior Buckard.” News-Press (Fort Myers, Florida). April 20, 2010. P. 21.
• Taylor, Harold. “With the Armed Forces.” Teco Echo. April 9, 1943. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37920
• Taylor, Harold. “With the Armed Forces.” Teco Echo. April 24, 1943. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37921
• “Three College Publications Aiding War Effort In Number Of Ways.” Teco Echo. October 29, 1943. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37927

Related Materials

Inscription by Rachel Farrior to Bessie Fay Hunt. The inscription reads “Bessie dear, I’ll never forget you. Some day I’m hoping to listen to you teach. Will you let me? Love, Rachel.” Image Source: East Carolina Yearbooks, Tecoan, 1940. UA50-01. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Rachel J. Farrior. Image Source: East Carolina Yearbooks, Tecoan, 1942. UA50-01. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Image Source: National WWII Museum, New Orleans.

Image Source: Teco Echo. February 27, 1943. East Carolina University Campus Newspapers. UA50-05. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Image Source: Teco Echo.January 20, 1945. East Carolina University Campus Newspapers. UA50-05. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

Image Source: Teco Echo.January 16, 1943 East Carolina University Campus Newspapers. UA50-05. University Archives, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.

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