At the Front Lines and on the Home Front:
DeKalb County Women of World War II
By EvaAnne Johnson
DeKalb County Women of World War II
Nearly 150 DeKalb County women enlisted in the military during World War II. They served in the Navy WAVES, Army WAC, Marines, Navy and Army Nurse Corps, and the Coast Guard Spars. They served as essential behind-the-scenes members of the military, serving as officers, recruiters, clerks, storekeepers, control tower operators, nurses, pharmacists, and more. Many more women worked in essential roles on the home front, including the Red Cross, Women's Ambulance Safety Patrol, Cadet Nurse Corps, Volunteer Nurses' Aides, and other important duties.
Corporal Evelyn Mae Anderson / DeKalb
WAC - 1943.
Ella Naomi Barnes / Sycamore
WAVES - 1942
Sgt. Marguerite Carnal of DeKalb
WAC- 1943
Cpl. Lynn Chilton of Maple Park
Marines - 1943
Marion Cook Holmes / DeKalb
WAC - 1942
2nd Lieut. Margaret Duffy / Shabbona
WAC - 1943
1st Lieut. Helen Duncan / DeKalb
WAC - 1942
Violet Audrey Eastwood /DeKalb
WAVES - 1943
1st Lieut. Vera Floit / Sycamore
Army Nurse Corps - 1942
Marjorie (on left) and Dorothy Hallgren (on right)
DeKalb County Women’s Ambulance Safety Patrol - 1943
Pvt. Donna Harris / DeKalb
WAC -1943
Tech. Sgt. Mattie L. Jackson / Sycamore
WAC- 1943
Barbara Johnson / Lee
Coast Guard SPARS - 1944
Mildred Agnes Kaiser of DeKalb
WAVES - 1944
Mary Kosearas / DeKalb
WAVES - 1942
Lieut. Jean MacQueen / Kirkland
ANC - 1943
WAC - 1944
Cadet Nurse Corps - 1943
Master Sgt. Esther Mae Nesbitt / WAC - 1942
DeKalb County Women’s Ambulance Safety Patrol - 1942
WAVES- 1944
Journalist and an accredited foreign correspondent for the New York Times - 1942
ANC - 1942
WAVES- 1943
WAC - 1944
Navy Nurse Corps - 1943
