Mollie’s War was out and about during November for Veterans Day. We traveled the state sharing Molie’s story. We meet very few WWII Veterans but lots of children and grandchildren of the Veterans. We discussed that, almost everyone had fathers who served in the military in WWII or Korea.  I didn’t realize how special it was that I had a father and a mother who served in WWII.  It wasn’t until many years later that I finally realized how very special this was.  My mother was a trailblazer for the women in the military who came after her. Many people tell me about the letters that they have from their fathers and ask me how to research their stories. It is quite a process–but for me with Mollie’s letters and the help of the Pritzker Military Library, I was to find information. I am sure today there is so much more information available.

In October we met a woman in Breese IL who had served in the USO during WWII. She lied about her age at her audition and was accepted at 16–the minimum age was 18. She served overseas. She said that she always wears pearls because she wore pearls when she would visit the soldiers in the hospitals.