"We didn't know what was going on in the world other than what they fed us." (Audio interview, 14:32)

Helen Minor

Helen Minor, circa 1944-1947 War: World War II, 1939-1946 Branch: WAC (Women's Army Corps) Service Location: Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; Staten Island, New York; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; O'Reilly General Hospital, Springfield, Missouri; Beaumont Hospital, El Paso, Texas Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant Place of Birth: Batavia, NY

For Helen Minor, military service meant extensive travel--not abroad, but to posts all around the United States, from Georgia to Missouri to Texas. When she dropped out of college in 1944 to enlist in the WACs, Minor was promised training in occupational therapy. She taught wounded soldiers how to regain the use of their limbs through simple handicrafts; she also observed the fortitude of men who remained amazingly upbeat in spite of their injuries.