As we look back on our country’s 250-year history, we remember the many contributions made by our men and women in uniform.
During World War II, more than 150,000 women served on active duty as part of the Women’s Army Corps.
Channel 11’s Lisa Sylvester sat down with Emily Drake, who will turn 101 on July 4, as she shares some of her memories.
Drake was born in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, on July 4, 1925.
She didn’t know what the future would hold for her; she just took life as it came.
“My famous words are ‘The best thing I did in life was join the Army,’ and you can just take from there,” Drake said.
When the United States entered World War II, Drake was still in high school.
“My girlfriend and I played hooky from school, and we went downtown because we wanted to join the Navy,” Drake said. “When we got there, the recruiters laughed at us and said, ‘Go home and come back when you get older.’”
After graduating from Aspinwall High School, still not old enough, Drake worked for the War Production Board and attended night school at the Robert Morris Business School to learn stenography.
When her sister-in-law joined the war effort, she didn’t want to wait any longer.
“I said, ‘I’m not staying home. I want to go too.’ So anyway, I lied about my age. I got into the Army,” Drake said.
Emily signed up for active duty with the Women’s Army Corps.
“I told the man, ‘I want to go overseas. He said, ‘Do you know any foreign language?’ I said ‘I do. I know Polish.’ He said, ‘You could get a job at the embassy in Warsaw.’ I said, ‘I would love that.’”
Since the quota for women overseas had been met, Emily was instead assigned to Orlando, Florida.
She wouldn’t see the world just yet, but she did make it to New York.
Socialite Gloria Vanderbilt offered women in the Army Corps the opportunity to stay at her mansion for free. When Emily heard that she and a girlfriend jumped at the chance
“We finally got up to the door, and there was a big sign: closed. I said, ‘You have to be kidding. Closed. How could they?’” Drake said.
With no place to stay, they tried to catch a train back to their post in Florida.
“I said, ‘I need two tickets to Orlando, Florida,’ and he said, ‘Do you have a reservation?’ I didn’t know you needed a reservation for a train ride. His exact words, his exact words: Um, honey, half of NY goes to Florida and we don’t have any seats for the rest of the year,’” Drake said.
Emily’s story is full of setbacks, surprises and serendipity. After that night in New York, they were able to hop on a military transport train headed to Washington, D.C.
“It was windy and raining and the window next to me blew out; the whole glass shattered all over me…by the time we got to Washington, my face was so swollen, my eye was closed,” Drake said.
While recovering in D.C., Emily received notice that the Polish Embassy wanted to interview her for a job; a silver lining, indeed.
She got the job after completing her Army duty and worked at the Polish Embassy, where she was invited to a garden party and had a chance to meet a famous president.
“They were all in a row: Margaret Truman, Mrs. Truman, President Truman. He shook my hand and said, ‘I thank you so much for your service,’” Drake said.
Last month, Robert Morris University also thanked the now 100-year-old Drake with an honorary degree 87 years after she left school to join the Army.
As she shares a birthday with our country, she also imparts some wisdom she’s picked up along the way.
“I hope the young people will learn to appreciate our beautiful country and not be afraid to fly the flag and to honor the people who have served and died for them,” Drake said.
In addition to working at the Polish Embassy, she also worked at Langley in Virginia and she did eventually go overseas to work at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.
Lisa Sylvester asked her secret to a long life. She joked and said it was the fact that she never got married and she loved to dance the polka.
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