History: Womens Auxilary Volunteer Emergency
I wrote this story for the Rupert, Idaho USA Minidoka County News. It appeared in the paper Sept. 2006
By LISA DAYLEY
Minidoka County News
In 1941, Uncle Sam whisked Marie Ignac from the Spud State to the Big Apple to train as a WAVE during World War II.
While Ignac worked as a teacher in Buhl, a Women’s Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency (WAVE) recruiter visited the school.
Ignac signed on.
“I felt like we were doing a good thing for the country. I knew my Dad enjoyed the service really well. I guess I was feeling patriotic,” she said.
Ignac was sent to Hunter College in Bronx, New York.
“It was kind of like boot camp,” she said.
Following boot camp, Ignac was stationed at a hospital in South Dakota where she trained as a nurse’s aid. While there, Ignac treated wounded soldiers burned in battle.
“Oh, my, that was awful. Some were badly wounded. Some were emotionally wounded. I worked that ward six weeks and was really glad to get released,” she said.
That release came thanks to her typing ability.
“I replaced a man. He had to go to sea. I took over his job,” she said.
Ignac eventually earned the rank of Pharmacist First Class - kind of the medical/WAVE version of the Army’s staff sergeant rank.
“I earned $80 a month,” Ignac recalled.
While working in the office, Ignac helped veterans file claims for retirement income.
“We worked to see who would be eligible for pensions,” Ignac said.
Ignac was later transferred to San Diego.
All that crisscrossing the country was exciting. She recalled visiting Niagara Falls but was a little disappointed by the famed falls.
“It’s not as high as Shoshone Falls. It’s not as spectacular to me. I think when there’s lots of water going, you can’t beat Shoshone Falls,” she said.
In 1942, Ignac met her future husband John, a soldier, at a dance. John didn’t have permission from his commander to attend.
“He never had a legal pass. He pushed me out the door real fast when he saw his commanding officer walk on to the dance floor,” she recalled.
During the next two years, John and Marie corresponded while the pair served in various parts of the country. They tied the knot in 1944 while both were on leave in Rupert.
“We got married at St. Nicholas. He went back to Miami, and I went back to San Diego,” she said.
While it was hard being a newlywed and being separated, it wasn’t unusual at the time for couples to do so.
“It’s just what everybody did. Not many couples got to live together right away during the war,” Ignac said.
In 1945, the Ignacs finally got together. Both had been discharged from the service and settled in Ohio. There they had seven children and lived for 30 years.
Moving to Iowa proved a culture shock for Marie.
“It was like going to a foreign country. My neighbors were all Slavic,” she said.
Ignac fit in though and so much so that her neighbors forgot she was from Idaho. Her neighbors knew enough English and Ignac understood their body language adequately to figure out what was being said.
“I felt like I was one of them,” Ignac said.
Ignac liked Ohio but said the often-gray skies made her long for the sunnier Minidoka County heavens.
“It was hazy all the time because of the coal plants. I was homesick the whole time. We lived on the farm (in Rupert), and the farm was home,” she said.
Marie graduated from the old Rupert High School in 1939. Going through high school during the Depression wasn’t hard as fellow students suffered right along with Ignac.
“Everyone else was going through the same thing,” she said.
Ignac’s family survived the rough economic times.
“We didn’t have money, but we lived on the farm. We had milk cows so we got a milk check we used to buy fabric and make some clothes,” Ignac said.
Ignac’s family shopped at the Rupert Square on weekends and enjoyed listening to the band playing the gazebo.
“The Square was busy. Everything was around the Square - a grocery store, J.C. Penny’s and the drug store,” she said.
They also went to the Wilson Threatre. Ignac recalled watching silent movies at the building.
“I don’t remember the movie’s title, but I remember Mary Pickford. I still remember that name,” she said.
Young for her 84 years, Ignac says she’s not sure there is a secret to a long life. She suggests keeping family nearby and caring about others.
“Maybe it’s keeping interested in people and being interested in what’s going on in the world,” she said.
Also check out the following Famous American Battles" Native Americans in Cassia County","Quilting in Idaho" The Bonneville Flood in Cassia County and The History of Shorthand
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Minidoka County News
In 1941, Uncle Sam whisked Marie Ignac from the Spud State to the Big Apple to train as a WAVE during World War II.
While Ignac worked as a teacher in Buhl, a Women’s Auxiliary Volunteer Emergency (WAVE) recruiter visited the school.
Ignac signed on.
“I felt like we were doing a good thing for the country. I knew my Dad enjoyed the service really well. I guess I was feeling patriotic,” she said.
Ignac was sent to Hunter College in Bronx, New York.
“It was kind of like boot camp,” she said.
Following boot camp, Ignac was stationed at a hospital in South Dakota where she trained as a nurse’s aid. While there, Ignac treated wounded soldiers burned in battle.
“Oh, my, that was awful. Some were badly wounded. Some were emotionally wounded. I worked that ward six weeks and was really glad to get released,” she said.
That release came thanks to her typing ability.
“I replaced a man. He had to go to sea. I took over his job,” she said.
Ignac eventually earned the rank of Pharmacist First Class - kind of the medical/WAVE version of the Army’s staff sergeant rank.
“I earned $80 a month,” Ignac recalled.
While working in the office, Ignac helped veterans file claims for retirement income.
“We worked to see who would be eligible for pensions,” Ignac said.
Ignac was later transferred to San Diego.
All that crisscrossing the country was exciting. She recalled visiting Niagara Falls but was a little disappointed by the famed falls.
“It’s not as high as Shoshone Falls. It’s not as spectacular to me. I think when there’s lots of water going, you can’t beat Shoshone Falls,” she said.
In 1942, Ignac met her future husband John, a soldier, at a dance. John didn’t have permission from his commander to attend.
“He never had a legal pass. He pushed me out the door real fast when he saw his commanding officer walk on to the dance floor,” she recalled.
During the next two years, John and Marie corresponded while the pair served in various parts of the country. They tied the knot in 1944 while both were on leave in Rupert.
“We got married at St. Nicholas. He went back to Miami, and I went back to San Diego,” she said.
While it was hard being a newlywed and being separated, it wasn’t unusual at the time for couples to do so.
“It’s just what everybody did. Not many couples got to live together right away during the war,” Ignac said.
In 1945, the Ignacs finally got together. Both had been discharged from the service and settled in Ohio. There they had seven children and lived for 30 years.
Moving to Iowa proved a culture shock for Marie.
“It was like going to a foreign country. My neighbors were all Slavic,” she said.
Ignac fit in though and so much so that her neighbors forgot she was from Idaho. Her neighbors knew enough English and Ignac understood their body language adequately to figure out what was being said.
“I felt like I was one of them,” Ignac said.
Ignac liked Ohio but said the often-gray skies made her long for the sunnier Minidoka County heavens.
“It was hazy all the time because of the coal plants. I was homesick the whole time. We lived on the farm (in Rupert), and the farm was home,” she said.
Marie graduated from the old Rupert High School in 1939. Going through high school during the Depression wasn’t hard as fellow students suffered right along with Ignac.
“Everyone else was going through the same thing,” she said.
Ignac’s family survived the rough economic times.
“We didn’t have money, but we lived on the farm. We had milk cows so we got a milk check we used to buy fabric and make some clothes,” Ignac said.
Ignac’s family shopped at the Rupert Square on weekends and enjoyed listening to the band playing the gazebo.
“The Square was busy. Everything was around the Square - a grocery store, J.C. Penny’s and the drug store,” she said.
They also went to the Wilson Threatre. Ignac recalled watching silent movies at the building.
“I don’t remember the movie’s title, but I remember Mary Pickford. I still remember that name,” she said.
Young for her 84 years, Ignac says she’s not sure there is a secret to a long life. She suggests keeping family nearby and caring about others.
“Maybe it’s keeping interested in people and being interested in what’s going on in the world,” she said.
Also check out the following Famous American Battles" Native Americans in Cassia County","Quilting in Idaho" The Bonneville Flood in Cassia County and The History of Shorthand
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