Knowles, Cheryl (Cheryl Dinning). Interview May 16, 2013

Interview with Cheryl Knowles (Cheryl Dinning), Petty Officer First Class, United States Navy. In her interview, Dinning discusses her enlistment, basic and advanced training, and four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Knowles also discusses life in the Navy, including shipboard life, as well as what it was like serving in the Navy as a lesbian during the Don't Act, Don't Tell era, an how if forced her to lead a double life and impacted her ability to be her genuine self and to grieve the loss of her daughter.

This interview was conducted as part of the War At Home and Abroad (WAHA) project, now called the CSUSM Veterans Voices project. WAHA was conducted by the California State University San Marcos History Department in collaboration with the CSUSM Student Veterans Center (now the Epstein Family Veterans Center) from 2012-2013. The project aimed to document, preserve, and make accessible the experiences of CSUSM's student veterans. Portions of this interview were edited, including the removal of the interviewer from the recording.

2013-05-16

California State University San Marcos University Library

CSUSM Veterans Voices

California State University San Marcos

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

CSUSM Veterans Voices (external link)

video

WAHA-01

Oral Histories

Community history, CSUSM Veterans Voices, LGBTQIA+ experience, Veteran experience, Women's experience

Cheryl Knowles (Cheryl Dinning), “Knowles, Cheryl (Cheryl Dinning). Interview May 16, 2013,” Voices of North County, accessed November 11, 2025, https://archivesoralhistories.csusm.edu/items/show/526.