Joan in The Women's Army Corps

The Women's Army Corps

1951-1953

I was in The Women's Army Corps from February '51 to December '53. I was the Administrative Assistant for the Joint Committee Secretariat Headquarters, Far East Command. I received the Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service. Upon being honorably discharged as a Sergeant First Class, I continued to serve in the Active Army Reserve for six more years as an Administrative Assistant for an all male officer unit.

Here I am on Bivouac at Fort Lee, Virginia. (Sorry, but I don't remember my tent partners name here in the picture.)

Home on leave in 1952 at my parent's house in Beverly Hills, California.

Sidebar:
While home I attended a high school reunion and when I got home Lou Costello was there meeting with my father (he was their agent) and he actually got on the phone and tried to call Washington, DC to ask them to promote me to an officer. I wish my father had let him!

Here I am at my barracks in Fort Riley, Kansas in late 1951

Sidebar: On the wall behind me is a sample of the collection of autographed pictures that I have acquired over the years. Some I got myself and some my father would bring home from the studios. Some of the more prominent are: Al Jolson, Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor, Tyrone Power, Robert Wagner and Betty Grable, to name a few.

Major General Bryan L. Milburn and I displaying the new shoulder patch to be worn by members of the United States Army Forces, Far East.

Sidebar: This picture was published in the Stars and Stripes in 1952.

In October of 1997 my daughter Cheryl and I attended the Dedication of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetary in Washington, DC.

I printed this out from the computer they have that contains a database of all the women who have served in any branch of the military