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They also servedBy MaryHelen Swanson This year, as we celebrate the memories of men and women who served, fought and died for our freedoms, the Post Review decided to visit with a few local women who made a difference by joining the military. Glennys Smith and Hazel Youngquist are looking back half a century now, to tours of duty in World War II. Ginger Amundson, serving as a radar technician in the mid-80s, knows about heightened awareness, being in the service during the Panama Conflict. The three North Branch women have more than one thing in common, but most outstanding is the fact that they would not trade their military experiences for anything. A birthday present for Hazel She actually went in the Army in 1945 via a birthday present and under ìa special plea for girls, because so many of the guys that worked in the hospitals were being sent overseas.î At 20, Hazel was underaged at the time, women had to be 21. Her mother signed papers for her as a birthday present. Hazel said no one in her family wanted her to go, so thatís what she asked for, for her birthday, and thatís what she got. There was a whole group of us from Minnesota that went together, about 15 stayed together all through our whole experience in the Army.î The way it was supposed to work, she said, was that you could request and be shipped to the military hospital nearest your home. It should have been either Great Lakes or Fort Snelling, but she was sent to Washington state, Barnes General Hospital at Vancouver. Because she went in before she was old enough, when her tour was done, she had to get out. When the war was declared over, she said, we had a choice of either getting out, or we had to re-enlist and go overseas. One stipulation she had with her mother was that she would sign for her to be in the Army if Hazel promised not to go overseas. Basic was very hard, Hazel said, you did everything the guys did, just not the arms part. We had gas mask training and had to carry gas masks with us at all time, even riding home on the train. ìBasic training was difficult,î she reiterated, ìmy mother thought I was kidding when I wrote to her and told her what I was doing.î Hazel, grew up in Stacy and graduated from Forest Lake High School. She made the birthday deal with her mother because she was unhappy and didnít know what she wanted to do with her life. This was something she felt she could do, a way of feeling useful. ìAll the kids were gone, ì she said, noting that the day after prom almost all of the guys left for the service. When Hazel cried It was interesting being a 20-year-old in the Washington hospital. The men in the ward were used to a robust, 50ish Irish woman with a hearty laugh. Suddenly a pretty 20-year-old walks in and says, ìIím gong to give you a bath,î and they got nervous, she said. One young man pulled his bedsheet up to his chin and wouldnít let her give him a bath. But they got used to her and being with them every day for a year, they became like a family. After leaving the hospital, she worked in an officerís clothing store on the west coast and then as a mail clerk and had her own jeep and driver. It was an air-sea rescue unit. They had never had Wacs (as the women in the Army were called) at this base before. From there she went to separation camp and got out. Khaki memories ìSo we used to wear them to the mess hall and when the food was especially bad- you couldnít leave it on your plate, you had to have a clean plate club, you know- we put our food in our bloomers until we got outside then we threw it in the garbage.î Friday nights were not good, because Saturday morning was inspection. There were no Army issued bras, but civilian stuff could not be showing during inspection, so we had an assembly line and had a (overhead) crawl space and everything civilian went in there until the inspection was over. While Hazel stayed stateside, she said ìlots of gals were overseas,î and a lot of 22-, 23-year-olds, who had lost their husbands, went into the service. ìEveryone had their own reasons for being there.î So she got a book from the national guard and trained herself in her kitchen. ìI wanted to stay (in the marching unit) until I was 70 but I couldnít make it, I couldnít walk,î she said. ìThey said I could ride my little red scooter, but I said when I have to ride my scooter, Iím not giving commands.î Hazelís photo album is full of memories, from the women in her unit to the men in the Washington hospital. She made some lasting friendships back half a century ago and still sees some of the women today. I wouldnít trade that two years of my life for anything. There were a lot of girls from Minnesota, all volunteer. ìWe felt like we were doing something.î They made their home in North Branch and were married 52 years. Glenn passed away a few years ago. Today Hazel lives with her little dog Heidi at Uptown Maple Commons. Eager to serve Glennys enjoyed every minute, she said. I wanted to go in, I had wonderful duties. Basic training was taken at Hunter College in NY. Not being used to physical activity, she said the exercise almost killed her, especially the walking. ìWe marched and marched.î Her military career continued with medical training in Florida. Because she had worked at the state hospital in Cambridge, and they were so in need of medics, they gave her her rank and she went right on the floor and worked until the other students completed medical training. She then went to Charleston and got into recruiting and from there just went right up the east coast bringing people into the military. Schooling for Hawaii ìWe knew were going to have amputees there,î she said. She worked on hospital ships on her way out to Hawaii and coming back. When she got to Hawaii, the harbors were cleaned up, she said, but you could still see the Arizona. It was rough duty, she said, in that she worked in a transit hospital. ìFellows would fly in and we would change dressings and stuff and send them back out again. I saw a lot of tragedy. When the Franklin (ship) was bombed, we had so many of those burn victims out there. We put them with our other patients, then everyone started getting sick. Have you ever smelled burnt flesh? It is the most horrible odor. We had to put them by themselves. There were a lot burned on that ship.î Perhaps it was because she was young, but Glennys said while in Hawaii she had no fears about the war returning to the islands. The concentration was in Europe. Although women in the military during the war sometimes were harassed, Glennys said she never had any trouble with fellow soldiers making remarks about her. In the military, she said, you have to learn to get along with people. Sweethearts forever Glennys made many friends while in the service and still corresponds with some of them. Two years ago she went to Washington D.C. to the dedication of the womenís memorial with a group from North Branch which included Hazel and Ginger. Several of her war friends were there, but she never got to see them because there were so many women there. A different kind of war She took basic training at Ft. Jackson during the hurricane season. It would rain, then be dry, hot, humid, then rain again, she said. We had blisters on our feet. They also took pictures of those sore feet. ìPanama, it happened so fast,î she said, ìwe were learning how to put our big radars on the C-5s, big airplanes, tying them down- those things are huge.î The Gulf War happened shortly after she got out. Ginger was trained for and served as a radar technician for the Hawk missile system (a surface to air defense system no longer in use). She also served two years in Germany. ìWe were in the middle of nowhere,î she said, ìon top of a mountain.î If a radar chassis was broken, they brought it to us to fix, and weíd send it back out. If they couldnít bring it in to be fixed, she said, they would send us out to fix it. Although the weather is similar to Minnesota where she was in Germany, they battled the cold in the winter. The snow sticks to radars, she said. One of the most rewarding parts of her service in Germany was her ability to travel. She went to Austria and France. ìBut we werenít allowed to go within a kilometer of the East German border,î she said. She remembers that there were cameras everywhere in East Berlin. Ginger said she never got harassed because she was in the Army. There were few women in the radar field, women were not in the repair field. In fact, in her section she was only female, and there were probably only 4-5 women in a platoon. She was treated like one of the guys. She also did a lot of guard duty. Ginger has three young children who have seen their mom in uniform numerous times. She marched with the American Legion unit at last yearís Midsummer parade, and when they came to the end of the route, she ran back to march with the Girl Scout unit. Today, Ginger runs a day care in her home. The military, both Ginger and Glennys agreed, is not for every female, but both felt it was a good experience. It takes a lot of discipline. Ginger would do it over again, so would Glennys, and Hazel, she wouldnít trade her experience for anything in the world. ©ECM Post Review |