In God We Trust
The Korean War Educator would like to recognize with appreciation the American servicewomen who devoted a portion of their life to protect their country. To add the name of a female Korean War veteran to this page, contact us.
Shirley joined the Navy in 1952. She was discharged in 1955 because she married Raymond R. Lupo, US Air Force.
USMC, Korean War
Conkling died September 13, 2002, of cancer. Mrs. Conkling was born on December 21, 1922, as Margaret Harnois, of French-Canadian descent. Her goals were education and travel. She joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 29. During the Korean War, Mrs. Conkling became an ardent "Poster Girl" for the WAVES. She realized her dreams for travel and spent over three years attached to the U.S. Embassy in London. Returning to the U.S., she left the Navy with honors. Remaining in D.C., she joined the staff of the Republican Policy Committee. She met and married Raymond Conkling, a lawyer with the Ways and Means Committee. The marriage ended in divorce, but produced one daughter, Tracy Barbara. By her early 50's, while working at COMSAT, she entered the University of Maryland, graduated with honors in journalism. Peggy was active in her church, condo assn, and her daughter's school. She was a member of MENSA and Order of the Eastern Star. As a single parent, she was an advocate on Capitol Hill to get attention to the plight of single parents. Her years of involvement with Parents Without Partners put her in the forefront, becoming the first female President of PWP's D.C. chapter. She also served on PWP's International Board of Directors as Public Relations VP. As a lover of cultural events and performing arts, in late 1970, Ms. Conkling did theater reviews for a PG County newspaper. This led to work first as Writer then as Assignments Editor for Intermission Magazine. Peggy was a huge supporter of keeping performing for kids of all ages. She exposed her grandson Kyle to theater, serious music and dancing. He absorbed it readily and eagerly accompanied her to many events. Peggy's wish is that Tracy continues to give Kyle and his sister Kyra these advantages. Survivors include daughter Tracy, grandchildren Kyle and Kyra, brother Robert Harnois and family, the Knudsen-Harnois family of Florida, numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Service to be held at Arlington National Cemetery February 6, 2003 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Breast Cancer Research or Montgomery County Hospice.
A2C Jan Edenfield served in the US Air Force in Korea. She was born January 04, 1935, and died December 29, 1971. She is buried in Stafford Baptist Church Cemetery, Furman, South Carolina. She was married to George Robert Edenfield (1934-2013).
Ruth L. (Rothberg) Erno joined the Navy WAVES on November 16, 1942, from her hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. After basic training at Hunter College, Erno trained as an aviation metal smith in Norman, Oklahoma; she later served in Radio Communications in Boston, MA. In January of 1944, Erno was selected for Midshipman School of Women’s Reserve at Smith College where she received her commission in April of 1944. She subsequently served as Base Communications Officer at the Naval Base, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and as Communications Superintendent in Portsmouth Naval Yard. In 1951, Erno transferred to the Pentagon Office of Naval Operations where she remained on active duty until 1954. Erno remained with the Navy Reserves until her retirement in 1977.
She attended WAVE Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, graduating in May 1952. Her rank was Ensign, USNR.
Born on October 24, 1934, she was the daughter of Stanley H. Harford (1904-1955) and Viola Agusta Harford (Grosberger). Diana joined the WAVES after high school graduation in 1953. During the short time she was in military service she was stationed in Florida. Diana married Albert Joseph Bunyak (1932-1990). She died on August 24, 2005, in Towanda, Pennsylvania.
Jeannie was a CT in the Navy in the early 1950s. She was founder of WAVES National with a unit in Maine.
See Black-Americans in the Korean War.
Private Hipple was born March 22, 1923. She served in Korea (Pusan and Seoul) in 1952-53. She died November 25, 1992, and is buried in Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California.
A former theatrical designer, she joined the Air Force in 1940. She applied for Officer Candidate School in November 1953. She served in Vietnam in 1968 with the 377th Combat Support Group as management and procedures officer.
From Portage, Michigan, she was in the Army during the Korean War. She died September 18, 2003.
Patricia Johnson of Sterling, Virginia, served as a navy recruiter.
Elizabeth 'Bette' Knisely (1929 - 2013), 83, passed away May 25, 2013, in Inverness FL, near her home in Floral City. She was born the youngest of six children to a northern Minnesota family at the start of the stock market crash, October 6, 1929, a year that is easy to remember in a historical context. She took the adventurous and independent step of enlisting in the Navy as a WAVE during the Korean War, after being recognized in her teens as a competition level swimmer. While stationed in Seattle, WA, she met an honored Army veteran who became the father of her three daughters, Kathleen (aka Deborah), Bridget and Gretchen. Kathleen is very proud of her mother's service and grateful for her support and inspiration in becoming a WAF in the U.S. Air Force. Many years after his death from Korean War-related injuries, she met Navy Chief Dean Knisely, a career Navy veteran, who became not only her husband and partner for the remainder of her life but the true love of her life. Survivors include her husband, Dean; three daughters, Kathleen, Bridget and Gretchen; siblings, Laura, Josie, R. George and Chuck. Her family and friends remember her as a woman committed to the service of her country, women's rights as the first female postal carrier in the town her daughters went to high school in and a supporter of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. Her husband and children are proud of the woman she had the courage to be. [Source: Obituary]
Born in 1921, she was the daughter of William and Edith Klappert of Cincinnati. She served in the Army on Okinawa in 1950. She later married Army veteran Harry Willis, who also served on Okinawa.
"Eleanor C. L’Ecuyer rejoined the Coast Guard after serving as a SPAR [United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve] during World War II. Prior to her rejoining, she earned a law degree and was commissioned as an ensign upon her reentry into the Coast Guard Women's Reserve. She was assigned to Washington, D.C. and became the first female attorney hired by the Coast Guard, although she did not directly serve in that role. Her legal training served her – and future generations of female Coast Guardsmen – very well. She wrote successful challenges to several policies that would increase career potential for women in the Coast Guard. One was her determination that being pregnant was not a disabling condition and therefore, should not be grounds for discharging women. Another was that couples should be allowed to co-locate. Another challenge she filed questioned the policy limiting women to serving only 20 years. She served until 1971, rising to the rank of captain. She holds the distinction of being the longest serving SPAR." [Source: Coast Guard website]
From Shirley, Long Island, Jean joined the Marines in 1952 and was stationed in California and Virginia 1952-1955.
She was a USMC Sergeant and supply clerk during the Korean War. She met her husband, a Chosin veteran, at Camp Pendleton.
Dorothy Matz served in the Navy Women’s Reserve (WAVES), October 1943 to June 1946, and then in the US Navy, December 1948-August 1966. "Opportunities for overseas service expanded for Navy women during the Korean War. During World War II, the only “overseas” billets to which Navy women could be assigned were then territories Hawaii and Alaska. After the war, however, those opportunities were withdrawn and Navy women’s overseas assignments were limited to a small number of bases in Europe with available housing for women. As the need for women’s service overseas increased during the Korean War, the Navy found acceptable quarters. Navy women were then assigned to Alaska, Hawaii, France, and to bases in Italy, England and the Philippines. In 1951, Dorothy L. Matz was one of five Navy women selected to serve on General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Advanced Planning Group staff, at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) Headquarters in Paris, France. In 1963, she became the first enlisted Navy woman assigned to Australia.
USMC
Lt. Colonel Miller was a career WAC who served in Korea and Vietnam.
Korean War veteran who married Robert Mayers
Betty joined the Air Force after high school and served during the Korean War. She was stationed in Florida where she taught troops about water survival before being shipped to Korea.
Woman after God's own heart. Pauline Juanita Lasseter Rhodes, 83, born: 03/08/1933; died: 01/14/2017. Born in Conway, Arkansas. She served as a Navy Wave during Korean War. Survived by husband Thurman Rhodes, siblings: William B.Lasseter, Bonnie Lasseter Lake, Ruby Lasseter Pruitt and Patsy Lasseter Sellers, Billy Lasseter; 6 children, Jeffery Rhodes, Jacqueline Rhodes Carswell, Juanita (Suzie) Rhodes Anderson, Joyce Rhodes Bowers, Tasha Rhodes, and Jerald Rhodes; 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. She loved and prayed for her family daily. Pauline enjoyed teaching children throughout her life, Club Scouts, Sunday School:life skills, nature, gardening and quilting. We truly will miss her but; in her own words, I am ready to see Jesus. Instead of cut flowers, please send cards and plants/seeds to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to plant in her memory. Memorial Services March 25th, 2017, 1 pm at Bethesda Cemetery, Bethesda Church, Rosebud, Arkansas. [Source: Obituary]
She joined the WAVES at age 18 after graduating from Jefferson High School in Roanoke. She became a Navy communication technician 2nd Class, working for the NSA in Washington, D.C. She transferred to Hawaii during the Korean War. After her Navy service she taught school for 27 years.
Born March 03, 1921/died June 20, 2016. Eleanor served in the first of the first Woman Marine detachments in World War II and served in a reserve unit in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Darlene was born December 28, 1935, a daughter of Fred and Esther Beardsley Summerville. She graduated from Vicksburg High School in 1953 and immediately joined the army, serving her country for two years. She was stationed in Germany and worked for the Pentagon. She married William "Mack" Lard on July 05, 1968 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Their children include Phil, Robin and Kelli, and they have six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Her siblings were Ruth, Edna, Jack, Bud and Bruce. Darlene Summerville Lard died January 17, 2006.
Marie E. (Conley) of Quincy, Massachusetts, died suddenly on Saturday, December 12, 2009. She was 81. Born in 1928, she was the daughter of the late Julia (Burchell) Conley. Marie was the beloved wife of the late John M. Tempesta. She was the cherished mother of Regina M. Tempesta and Sheila of Scituate, Lauren A. Tempesta - Gonsalves and Richard of Milton, John M. Tempesta and Donna of Saugus and Christine Clark of Hingham. She was the sister of the late Anne Conley, and grandmother of Anthony Christopher Clark, Giovanni and Richard Gonsalves, Jr. Marie grew up in South Boston and after her high school graduation she enlisted into the United States Air Force, where she achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant. She served during the Korean War years. Marie married and began raising her family in South Boston. She moved to Quincy back in 1964. An avid reader, she also enjoyed crafts and gardening. She had an deep appreciation of opera music. In her earlier years, Marie volunteered at an elementary school for special needs students, where she helped them with sign language. In her later years, Marie moved into 91 Clay Street, where she began many special friendships. She will be remembered as a devoted mother, a great listener and a dear friend. She will be sadly missed by all those who were blessed to have known her. Marie is buried in Pinehilll Cemetery, Quincy, Massachusetts.
Betty (Sutton) White of Pennsylvania was one of the first group of women from all service branches to recruit for Women Officer Procurement. She served with Headquarters Marine Corps Northeastern Recruiting, out of the recruiting office in Boston, Massachusetts. She served in the US Marine Corps from 1950 to 1952.
"Betty Jane "BJ" Williams, U.S. Air Force (1919–2008) — Betty Jane “BJ” Williams was a pioneering pilot, educator and promoter of aviation. She earned her private pilot’s license in 1941, and during World War II, she served in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) as an engineering test pilot. After the WASP was disbanded in December 1944, Williams continued her aviation career as a commercial pilot, flight instructor and aerospace engineering technical writer. Commissioned as an Air Force officer during the Korean War, she produced training and motivational programs as part of the Air Force’s first video production squadron. She then served in the Air Force Reserves as a public affairs officer, retiring in 1979 with the rank of lieutenant colonel." [Source: Arlington National Cemetery website]
Joyce was a WAC stationed in Yokohama, Japan, 1949-1950. She worked at the Yokohama train station loading troops onto trains to go to other points on the way to Korea. She married Duane O'Neal, a veteran of the Korean War who served in an engineer unit.
Born March 19, 1932 in Pennsylvania, she was a 1950 graduate of Wilson High School. She served with the Navy WAVES during the Korean War. She died February 10, 2021.