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
