“It Was Like Going Through A Time Machine”: Serving In East Germany With The USMLM

Marilyn Soukup Jones and Brenda Roots Marriott were two of the handful of American service-women who worked for the United States Military Liaison Mission during the Cold War. Both served as clerk-typists for the team, and took care of the day-to-day operations of the mission. In this interview, they talk about their experiences in Basic Training and traveling to Europe. They describe their daily duties on the team, and their interactions with the Germans who worked at their headquarters. They discuss their relationships with various members of the team and recalling that “everybody was like family.” Finally, they reflect on their service to the nation, one commenting that “I did my part for the country.”