Women's Air Raid Defense (WARD), Hawaii Wings

1,223 · August 7, 2022

1,223 · March 10

A new addition to the Women's Air Raid Defense (WARD) of Hawaii topic. Found this very tiny lapel wings with WARD carefully engraved at the top of the shield. On the back is engraved Kathleen Neal. Kathleen Neal Plummer lived a very full life as a professional beauty, taking on jobs as a contestant, model and actress. But in those early teen years, she was a radar plotter for the WARD likely in Oahu. Here is her entire obituary from 2011:

Kathleen Neal Plummer, model, saleswoman

Kathleen Neal Plummer, a onetime fashion model who worked in Washington in the 1950s and 1960s as a manufacturer's representative for the Berlei girdle company, died Jan. 13 at a skilled-nursing facility in Los Angeles. She was 87 and had Alzheimer's disease. Mrs. Plummer, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, was once crowned Miss Oakland. From the late 1930s to the late 1950s, her image appeared in print advertisements and on billboards for Acme Beer and the soft drink Squirt. She also appeared in television commercials and in magazines such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Collier's and Coronet. Kathleen Neal was born in what is now Coos Bay, Ore., and grew up in San Francisco. She worked from 1941 to 1942 as a radar plotter in Hawaii for the Women's Air Raid Defense. In the late 1940s, she traveled abroad to U.S. military installations as a tap dancer with the United Service Organizations' camp shows. She studied art during the 1960s at the Corcoran School in Washington. She was a member of the Cherrydale United Methodist Church in Arlington and the Army Navy Country Club. Her first marriage, to George W. Neumann, ended in divorce. Her second husband, retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Philip F. Plummer, died in 1982 after 20 years of marriage. Survivors include a daughter from the second marriage, Kimberly Plummer Damer of Los Angeles; and three grandchildren.

- Emma Brown

Kathleen Neal Plummer ("Kay") Cover girl, model, actress, and dancer

died in Los Angeles Thursday January 13th. She was 87. A resident of Toluca Lake, Neal was born in Coos Bay, OR April 14th, 1923, the daughter of Alvin Neal and Beatrice Wright. The one-time "Miss Oakland" and "Queen of the Bay Area Yacht Clubs" graduated from Galileo High School in 1941 and briefly attended UC Berkeley and UCLA. Neal danced in the USO Camp Show tours of the Pacific during the Korean war and modeled for such national magazines as Colliers, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar. Herb Caen wrote in his column that it was Neal, "the queen behind the Mark Hop flower stand" that was the "Vargas girl" who graced the Acme beer billboards seen around The City during that era. Neal appeared in commercials and TV shows including the Al Jarvis Show, Art Linkletter show, Queen for a Day and the Caroline Leonetti Charm School. Neal also spent 25 years in the Wasington, D.C. area and worked as a manufacturer's representative for the Berlei Sarong girdle company and was married to Cmdr. Philip F. Plummer before retiring in San Carlos. Survivors include her only child, daughter Kimberly Plummer Damer, a Stanford alumnus and resident of Studio City; her son-in-law, Eric Damer, and three grandchildren.

Thank you Kathleen for your service!

4,974 · March 10

Very nice set of WARD wings and a great story about Kathleen.

Well done

Leigh

1,223 · March 10

Here are some more resources on this topic and appreciation to Britnee Nero who researched the WARD as a Girl Scout project, building a wordpress site and physical exhibits. And Teresa Nero, her mom, who now manages the site.https://hawaiiwardproject.wordpress.com/about/

https://hawaiiwardproject.wordpress.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Shuffleboard-Pilots-History-Womens-Defense/dp/0963138804

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_Air_Raid_Defense

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/womens-air-raid-defense-hawaii.html?chrome=1

https://issuu.com/remembrance/docs/rememberance_spring_2021-hr/s/12399985