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Lance Corporal Jean Lorain Godden Lopez

Head and shoulders photograph of Jean Lopez with a scarf around her neck.
  • Unit: NAVMC 10150-PD
  • Date of Birth: March 27, 1934
  • Entered the Military: April 20, 1953
  • Date of Death: July 25, 2003
  • Hometown: North Platte, Nebraska; Klamath Falls, Oregon
  • Place of Death: California
  • Award(s): National Defense Service Ribbon
  • Cemetery: Section C-208, Grave 25. Los Angeles National Cemetery, Los Angeles, California
Contributed by Leilani Cariaga, Andrea Dedace, Kyla Manansala, Skyy Mariano
Mentored by Ms. Aditi Mehta Doshi
Van Nuys High School
2024-2025

Early Life

Jean Lorain Godden was born on March 27, 1934, in North Platte, Nebraska. She was born to Margarietta Gladys Stellman and Benjamin Everett Godden and was the second youngest of their four children. However, shortly after Jean was born, her father died due to unstated causes. Eventually, her mother remarried a man named Homer Carlton Miller. He was a World War I veteran and worked as a cook. 

Jean’s family moved between states during her childhood, primarily Oregon and California. Jean attended San Leandro High School in California and Klamath Falls High School in Oregon.

After Jean completed high school, she returned to Nebraska and worked as a nurse’s aide at St. Mary’s Hospital in North Platte, near her birthplace.

Census except from Oregon listing the Miller/Godden family members' demographic information.
The 1940 Census shows the Miller/Godden family residing in Oregon. National Archives and Records Administration.
Black and White photo of Klamath Falls Union High School.
Klamath Union High School, Klamath Falls, Oregon. Klamath Union High School.
Black and white photo of a hospital.
Jean Godden worked at St. Mary’s Hospital in North Platte, Nebraska, after her high school graduation, c. 1950. Lincoln County Historical Museum.

Homefront

Jean Lorain Godden resided in Klamath Falls, Oregon, during her childhood. Klamath Falls was known for being a marvelous setting for outdoor activities, such as skiing, canoeing, and fishing, which attracted many tourists.

Although Klamath Falls was a tourist attraction, it was also home to the Klamath tribe, which includes  the Klamath, the Modoc and the Yahooskin-Paiute people. The tribe was self-sufficient in its ownership of the largest standing Ponderosa Pine forest in the West.

Community

The community of Klamath Falls was involved in lumber manufacturing by shipping logs throughout the United States during the Korean War. The community also participated in agriculture during wartime. Potatoes, fermented barley, and alsike clover seeds were most commonly planted during the mid-twentieth century. 

From the late 1940s to the early 1950s, the community drastically changed with steady growth and business expansion. World War II brought U.S. Marine barracks and naval air stations, like Kingsley Field, to the town. In the aftermath of the war, Veterans contributed to the economy with agriculture and lumber mills, which led to a skyrocketing housing market. In the 1950s, Klamath residents clashed with the Klamath tribes due to disagreements over water rights and the town’s ecosystem, which led to a rapid decline in the lumber industry.

A black and white photo of downtown Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Although she was born in Nebraska, Lopez lived many of her early years in Klamath Falls, Oregon, the downtown region of which is shown in this picture, 1941. Bureau of Reclamation, Oregon History Project.
Newspaper article titled, "The Klamath Basin Pine Mills is One of the Major Operations In the Klamath Basin Lumber Manufacturing."
The lumber industry powered the economy in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Herald & News, January 20, 1953.
Photo of a woven basket with a lid.
Basketry by the Klamath Tribes. The Klamath Tribes.

Military Experience

In 1953, Jean Godden enlisted in the U.S. Navy in La Grande, Oregon. She moved to San Diego to train to be a hospitalman, rising to the rank of lance corporal. Jean Godden Lopez received several months of training at Naval Hospital Corpsman School from July 30, 1953 through December 17, 1953. 

Military Service

Like many other women in the Korean War, Jean Godden Lopez contributed through service as a healthcare provider. In her role as a hospitalman, she provided crucial medical assistance to those in need, both in naval hospitals and in support of the U.S. Marine Corps in San Diego, California.

Awards

The National Defense Service Ribbon was awarded to any military service member who served in active duty during a time of national emergency. Jean Lorain Godden earned this ribbon for her service during the Korean War. Godden was recommended for reenlistment during her discharge on March 21, 1955.

Muster Roll documenting Jean Godden’s assigned to Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California, October 10, 1954. Portions have been redacted for privacy reasons. National Archives and Records Administration.
A red ribbon with a vertical yellow strip running down the middle and an attached medal.
Jean Godden Lopez received the National Defense Ribbon for her service during the Korean War. Official United States Air Force Website, 2016.
Jean Godden’s DD-214, detailing her military service, March 21, 1955. Portions have been redacted for privacy reasons. National Archives and Records Administration.

Veteran Experience

Jean Godden married Warren L. Schroder, a Korean War Veteran, on March 4, 1955, shortly before leaving the military with an honorable discharge. Her separation may have been influenced by marriage or pregnancy, aligned with the regulations of the time.

Jean and Warren’s children included Warren, Jr., who was born on April 17, 1956. Jean and Warren eventually divorced, and she remarried Rafael Noreiga Lopez on October 14, 1962. Jean and Rafael lived in Burbank and Pacoima, California.

Commemoration

While eligible for reenlistment, no records indicate that Jean Godden Lopez returned to military service or pursued a civilian career after her marriage. She passed away on July 25, 2003, and was buried alongside her beloved son Warren, a Veteran of the Vietnam War, at Los Angeles National Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Head and shoulders photograph of Jean Lopez with a scarf around her neck.
Jean Lorain Godden Lopez in high school, 1951. Klamath Union High School Yearbook, Ancestry.com.
Photograph of a grave stone with an etched cross and the names Warren Laurence Schroder and Jean Lorain Lopez.
Jean Lorain Godden Lopez is buried with her son at Los Angeles National Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Find A Grave, 2024.
Colored photograph of Warren Lopez wearing a tie.
Jean Lopez’s son, Warren Schroder, served during the Vietnam War with the United States Marine Corps. Find A Grave.
Jean Lorain Godden Lopez’s grave at Los Angeles National Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, March 31, 2025.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

California. Alameda County. 1950 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestrylibrary.com.

El Rodeo. Klamath Union High School, 1951. https://ancestrylibrary.com.

Federal Register 24, no. 181 (September 16, 1959): 7444-7445. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1959-09-16/pdf/FR-1959-09-16.pdf. 

Jean Godden. Nebraska Birth Index, 1912-1994. https://ancestrylibrary.com. 

Jean Godden. U.S., Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958. https://ancestrylibrary.com. 

Jean Godden. Voter Registration Lists, Public Record Filings, Historical Residential Records, and Other Household Database Listings. https://ancestrylibrary.com.

Jean Lorain Godden Lopez, DD-214, Department of the Navy. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Jean Lopez. California Marriage Index, 1960-1985. https://ancestrylibrary.com. 

Oregon. Multnomah County. 1930 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestrylibrary.com.

Oregon. Multnomah County. 1940 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestrylibrary.com.

Rafael Lopez. California, Riverside, Federal Naturalization Records. https://ancestrylibrary.com.

Rafael N. Lopez. California, U.S., Marriage Index 1960-1985. https://ancestrylibrary.com. 

San Leandro High School Yearbook. San Leandro, 1951. https://ancestrylibrary.com.

Warren L. Schroder. California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1949-1959. https://ancestrylibrary.com.  

Secondary Sources

Bellafaire, Judith. “Called to Duty: Army Women during the Korean War Era.” Army History 52 (spring 2001): 19-27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26305153 .

Evans, Kenneth. “The Klamath Basin Pine Mills is One of the Major Operations in the Klamath Basin Lumber Manufacturing.” Herald & News [Klamath Falls, OR], January 20, 1953. https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn99063813/1953-01-20/ed-1/seq-7/. 

“History of Klamath Falls.” City of Klamath Falls. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.klamathfalls.city/289/History-of-Klamath-Falls. 

“Jean Lorain Lopez.” Find a Grave. Updated July 2, 2011. Accessed April 17, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/72461148/jean_lorain-lopez.

“Jean Lorain Lopez.” Veterans Legacy Memorial, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Accessed April 17, 2025. https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/JEANLORAINLOPEZ/062EBA8.

“Klamath Falls, 1941.” Oregon History Project. Last modified 2003. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/klamath-falls-1941/. 

“The Korean War Era.” U.S. Army Center of Military History. Accessed August 26, 2024. https://www.history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/resmat/korea/intro/index.html. 

List of Military Occupation Specialty Codes (MOS) by State and County. Accessed April 17, 2025. University of North Texas Digital Library. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc16336/m1/304/sizes/m/. 

Lamm, W. E. Lumbering in Klamath. 1944. Oregon State University. https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/downloads/2r36tz999.

Marolda, Edward. The Social History of the U.S. Navy, 1945–Present: A Historiographical Essay. Naval History and Heritage Command. Updated December 5, 2016. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/needs-opportunities-modern-history-us-navy/social-history-usnavy.htm.

America’s Women Veterans: Military Service History and VA Benefit Utilization Statistics. National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. November 2011.

National Defense Service Medal. Air Force’s Personnel Center. Updated 2016. Accessed April 17, 2025. https://www.afpc.af.mil/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/421890/national-defense-service-medal/.

“Our History.” The Klamath Tribes. 2024. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://klamathtribes.org/history/. 

“Television, Radio and Airports.” Upper Klamath Basin Timeline. Accessed November 18, 2024. https://anderstomlinson.com/tule-lake/towns/history-timelines/1950-1959/. 

“U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman Careers.” U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman Careers https://www.navy.com/.

Warren Laurence Schroder. Find a Grave. Updated March 3, 2000. Accessed April 8, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3750536/warren-laurence-schroder.

This profile was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.