CYNTHIA NORTON

Cynthia Norton grew up in a military family and spent her childhood on military bases.

"I loved the military and living on bases where there were 10,000 armed men around me and I was safe. In 1964 we saw all this mobilization of manpower, medical power and armed power. We didn't care anything about the war. While we were at school we heard the sound of machine-gun fire and helicopter blades all day long. We never questioned it.

"There was a mock Vietnam village on our beach. It looked just like the real thing and was filled with bombed-out airplane parts. We used to sneak in there at night. In daytime, there would be mock attacks. It was an eerie feeling to imagine what it would be like in battle. It was a kind of envy. I looked at the war as strictly a man's thing. I found myself resenting the fact that I couldn't participate."
Cynthia Norton from an interview with Lois Tarlow
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