Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Share #1 Posted April 25, 2008 Hey, I showed a picture of a WAC group I acquired several years ago. I wanted to break that group down a bit more. I hope this thread isn't too long, but Gertrude Moller needs a bit of space. As mentioned before: "I display uniforms and medals at a local museum's collector's day each year. A couple years ago, a lady saw my table of uniforms and medals and mentioned that her friend was a WAC in WWII. She had wanted to sell her memorabilia off. So, I gave her my number. Unfortunately, the following Thursday, she called saying that her friend had just passed away, but asked if I was still interested. Sure, and I visited her house the next night. What I saw really shocked me. Her friend kept all of her uniforms, medals, patches, paperwork, technical manuals, highschool yearbooks, dogtags, rings, everything. Needless to say, I purchased the group promising (very sincerely) to keep it all together. I now display her group every year to a great response. It sure tells the whole story!!" On her display, I have the following bio of her: Sergeant Gertrude E. Moller Women’s Army Corps World War II 1943-45 Gertrude Moller was born January 10th, 1915 in Meade County Kansas. She was an only child raised on a farm there. When she was 4 years old, her mother brought her to Kanas City, Missouri to attend a city school. She had felt that country schooling was less than adequate. Gertrude’s father stayed in Kansas. Gertrude left high school after 9th grade and with her mother, eventually moved to Jersey City, New Jersey, finding a job as a cook at a local home for orphans. She had always wanted to fly and took some flying lessons and ground school in 1942 although a pilot’s license always eluded her. At that time a new women’s service was being created called the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). It was designed to allow women to serve in the military whereby releasing men in non-combatant jobs for service on the battlefront. This marked a first in US history and the idea of women in the military brought tough opposition from old-world types who felt that women should be in the home raising children. With the backing of General George Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, the WAACs persevered and eventually showed that they were more than able to meet the mission. They served in vital roles such as clerks, mechanics stenographers, photographers and many, many others. In August, 1943, the U.S. Army officially integrated women into the service and the WAAC was redesignated the Woman’s Army Corps (WAC). It was a tough struggle to shake off criticism and sexism, but in the end, over 100,000 women served as WACs throughout the world in World War II. Sergeant Moller enrolled in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps on March 9th, 1943. She went through basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia and was one of 700 WACs that were trained as cooks for employment in US Army Air Force hospitals. She was assigned to the Santa Anna Army Air Base Hospital in California. She was demobilized on September 24th, 1945 after 2 years and 8 months of faithful service and returned to New Jersey to continue her civilian life. She worked the rest of her life as a cook. Gertrude Moller passed away March 25th, 2004 at the age of 89 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. On display is Sergeant Gertrude Moller’s Summer and Winter uniforms, Good Conduct medal and many of her things she saved from those trying and exciting days in World War II when women came to the fore and showed the world just what they could do! Now that you know her story, let's see what she kept for so long. First the uniforms. She kept her summer and winter-weight service coat and skirt, with 2 shirts and 3 hats. She also kept her rainjacket. All with stamped name and number, including the hangers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #2 Posted April 25, 2008 Here is a close-up of the name tag and ribbons: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #3 Posted April 25, 2008 I was absolutely floored with how much stuff Gertrude kept. Here is a look at what was in the group. I put all of her photos and documents in binders, 3 to be exact. -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #4 Posted April 25, 2008 When I opened the shoebox, it looked just about like this ( I added the medal sleeves, of course!): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #5 Posted April 25, 2008 In the smaller box, there were her cap and collar badges, her named good conduct medal, named bracelet, gold WAC ring, and a lot of other stuff! You can see the Santa Ana PT T-Shirt undernieth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #6 Posted April 25, 2008 One of the things I laughed out loud about was that she actually kept her name stamps, both sizes. Of course they match everything in the group, including the WAAC nylons pin bag. The Chalk figure was in great shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #7 Posted April 25, 2008 About 2 weeks after I got the group, Gertrude's friend called me and mentioned that she had found a book, I KNEW exactly what she was talking about!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #8 Posted April 25, 2008 I had wondered almost immediately if there were signatures in it like my highschool yearbook. Sure enough, there were! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #9 Posted April 25, 2008 Among the ton of items in her group there were...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #10 Posted April 25, 2008 In her Bio, I mentioned that Gertrude joined the Women Flyers of America. Here's one of the letters from the orgranization. It mentions how much the ground school materials will cost.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #11 Posted April 25, 2008 ........She kept those too, with meticulus notes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #12 Posted April 25, 2008 Here is her DD214.... -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #13 Posted April 25, 2008 Base newspapers, but a few... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #14 Posted April 25, 2008 The Tech Orders.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #15 Posted April 25, 2008 Among the tons of paperwork, there are a couple cards here and there. The USO pamphlet is signed by Edward G. Robinson. It must of been a great show!! -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share #16 Posted April 25, 2008 Here is a shot of some of the newspaper clippings she kept. Man, she really liked her planes as a kid! I hope you enjoyed the photos. I like to think that Gertrude is somewhere close by..... -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvage Sailor Posted April 25, 2008 Share #17 Posted April 25, 2008 Among the tons of paperwork, there are a couple cards here and there. The USO pamphlet is signed by Edward G. Robinson. It must of been a great show!!-Ski This reminds me of a grouping I bought for my sister years ago. Complete overseas Red Cross uniforms, paperwork & photographs of a woman who served from 1917 to 1957. Boxes & boxes of arcane stuff mixed in with real gems. Glad you saved this one & shared it with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobgee Posted April 26, 2008 Share #18 Posted April 26, 2008 Wonderful & historical save! Congrats. You'll keep Gertrude's memory alive for a while longer. This is a real museum quality grouping. Thanks for sharing it with us. Bobgee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Apathy Posted April 26, 2008 Share #19 Posted April 26, 2008 Ski, Fantastic, Great grouping, you get a sense that this woman had great pride in her wartime WAAC life, real pity that you never get the chance to talk with people like that. It's history gone without this group being saved, well done. Cheers ( Lewis ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 26, 2008 Share #20 Posted April 26, 2008 Very well done thread Gertrude would be proud! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted April 26, 2008 Author Share #21 Posted April 26, 2008 Thanks everybody. What really kills me is the fact that you KNOW there are a lot more groups like this getting parted out each and every day for sale on E-Bay. A real shame. All those stories lost. -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandon_rss18 Posted April 28, 2008 Share #22 Posted April 28, 2008 That is an AMAZING grouping. Very nicely done. Its sad to think that we need to get all the info we can from these heros of yesteryear before they are all gone, so that we may teach others of their sacrifices. Every one of them that passes away is like a History book lost forever. Great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share #23 Posted January 16, 2009 Well, just when you think you've seen it all, something more pops up. I get home from work an hour ago to find an envelope in my mailbox with these photos in it. Gertrude's friend obviously found more photos, and I am ABSOLUTELY chuffed!! Here are some of the shots...... -Ski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share #24 Posted January 16, 2009 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamski Posted January 16, 2009 Author Share #25 Posted January 16, 2009 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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