Long May She WAVE

We spoke with Marion Belohlav in May of 2011. She was recovering from pneumonia, but was determined to share her story as a Navy WAVES (women accepted for voluntary emergency service) during World War II.  Our visit was brief, yet her story made for a full morning. We are reprinting her story again, as Marion passed away in February, which emphasizes the importance of asking veterans to share their stories as only they can tell them.

"My dad had served in World War I, and he had wanted to enlist again, but he was turned down," she said of her own interest to serve.  "Although, I would have joined anyway, because we all just wanted to get that war over with."

Marion's experience entering into the corps was as a dancer and she said they admittedly "had no idea what to do with me, so they assigned me to the hospital corps."

Her basic training was at Hunter College in New York, and as she still wanted to entertain, she continued with hospital training in Sampson, NY, landing at the Marine Corps Air Station in Edenton, NC.  There the WAVES were involved in the hospital dispensary to treat minor wounds of the trainees there, and also would put on shows to entertain the troops.

However, the base also trained pilots from Corpus Christi, TX, to land planes on platforms for later service on aircraft carriers.  Marion's only 'combat' experience (women were not allowed to travel overseas in the military until the war's end) was recovering the dead from a midair collision.

The doctor in charge told the women to "go get the bodies," and she along with other women serving collected arms, legs and other body parts.  They had to 'reassemble' the parts to be identified as well.

However, Marion loved her time in the Navy and is proud that she could help.  

"It felt good to know that you were doing something to help your own country - everyone wanted to help," she said.

Marion had a second chance to come home again last year, as a member of the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight, an experience she called spectacular.

"There were more than 4,000 people there to meet us when we came back to the airport," she recalled.  "There was a little girl, about 3 years old, who came up to me and asked if she could touch me and I said, 'yes, of course.'  When she gave me her hand I kissed it and she was just so excited.  Her mom explained to me that no one was giving her high fives, so it was a pretty big deal to her."

Generally, meeting a real-life hero (or heroine in this case) is a big deal, no matter your age.