"When I first wrote my father that I was going to join the newly formed Women's Army Corps, he wrote back, 'It will be all scum.' I knew it would not be scum and went anyway. Later on he was proud of my decision." Memoir Addendum, page 1

Mary Sheldon Gill

Mary Gill at Moore General Hospital, Asheville, NC [detail] War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: WAC (Women's Army Corps) Service Location: Daytona Beach, Florida; Swannanoa and Asheville, North Carolina; also: Asheville, North Carolina Highest Rank: Sergeant Place of Birth: Greenwich (Albany), NY

Molly Gill didn't set out to be a crusader when she enlisted in December 1942 in the Women's Army Corps (WAC). A small-town girl bored with life at a state teacher's college, Gill was a self-professed patriot looking for a little adventure in her life. Though she only served stateside, she encountered her share of enemies: officers and soldiers whose reactions to women serving in the military ranged from skeptical to hostile.