We Answered the Call

December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States declared war. On December 11, 1941, the United States declared war on Germany and Italy. Gage County residents served in Europe and in the Pacific. They fought in major battles, received honors, became prisoners of war, were wounded or killed in action. Some served behind the lines as nurses, clerks, cooks, truck drivers, and airplane mechanics; others worked with communications and intelligence.

We were young and you just did it because you were expected to....

Beatrice resident Eldon Goble,

April 25, 2005

[Some photo captions follow]

1. Margaret Brewster (center) enlisted in the Woman's Army Auxiliary Corps at the beginning of WWII. She served in several commands during the war and was among the first group of women officers selected for entry in the regular Army in 1943. She gained the rank of Lt. Col. and retired in 1965.

2. Home on furlough, summer 1944, Elmer Virgil Emal with Shirley Jean Siems, Mary Margaret Schuster, and Karen Schuster.

3. Lucile Totsch enlisted in the WAVES in June 1943 and was stationed in San Francisco and Honolulu.

4. Eldon Goble of Beatrice is first from the left on the wing of the plane at an occupied German airfield.

Courtesy hmdb.org

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