Title: One woman's World War II
First published: 1994
Description: Memoirs by sailors, soldiers, and pilots who fought in World War II abound, but here is a rarity: a personal account by a woman who served in both the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and the American Red Cross during the war and occupation.

The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps was established in 1942, allowing American women for the first time to serve, in supporting roles, in the military. The following year, Violet A. Kochendoerfer, an independent and adventurous young Minnesota woman, joined the WAACs.

Always alert to new opportunities, she soon left for a job with the American Red Cross and saw much of World War II in the European Theater of Operations as she served as director of service clubs attached to military units in Britain, France, and Germany.

Kochendoerfer tells of enduring buzz bombs in London as her 315th Troop Carrier Group took part in D-Day operations; of providing service clubs for the 82nd Airborne Division as it forced the last bridgehead of the war; of witnessing the final surrender of the main German Army and the liberation of a concentration camp; and of meeting and celebrating with the Russians after the Germans surrendered.

Her story, some of it told through letters she wrote home, provides a woman's unique perspective on historic events usually recounted only by men.
Subjects: American National Red Cross, American Personal narratives, Biography, Personal narratives, American, United States, United States. Army. Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, World War, 1939-1945, United states, army, women's army corps, World war, 1939-1945, personal narratives, american, World war, 1939-1945, women, American red cross, United States. Army. Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
People: Violet A. Kochendoerfer (1912-)
LC classification: D811.5 .K5944 1994