DeKalb WW II vet, 107, awarded Women’s Army Corps medal

DeKALB – A 107-year-old World War II veteran from DeKalb recently was awarded a Women’s Army Corps medal, almost eight decades after she was honorably discharged.

Myrtle Annetta Lusiak, who celebrated her birthday in May at her home in Aperion Care assisted living facility, was presented the medal by the DeKalb American Legion Post No. 66 on July 1, according to a news release.

A certificate and medal were presented to Lusiak by the Legion’s post commander, Manuel Olalde, and U.S. Army veteran and fellow Legion member Charlotte Hodder. Other Legion members also were present during the ceremony, along with members of the Legion’s Auxiliary Unit No. 66, and representatives from the DeKalb County Veterans Association.

“Our profound thanks to Myrtle M. Lusiak for her service and contribution to our Nation’s success in WWII,” Legion members wrote in the release.

During her service in World War II, Lusiak drove prisoner trucks, delivered mail and helped with the motor pool.

The Women’s Army Corps Bill was signed into law 81 years ago on July 3, 1943. The law converted the Women’s Auxiiliary Army Corps (WAAC) into the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), merging the women’s branch into the U.S. Army itself.

Before that, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the WAAC in May 1941. The Women’s Army Corps Bill was created in part to help accommodate the number of requests for women’s services.

“The resources provided by the WAACs were desperately needed overseas in 1943, but the Army could not offer them the protection if captured or benefits if injured which regular Army soldiers received, subsequently making it difficult to recruit women to the effort,” Legion members wrote in the release. “Establishment of a Women’s Army Corps with pay, privileges, and protection equal to that accorded to men was seen as a partial solution to the Army’s problem.”

More than 150,000 American women served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II, making them the first women other than nurses to contribute to serve in the Army.

Lusiak eagerly signed up for the Women’s Army Corps one month after it was signed into law, serving as a Corporal in the Women’s Army Corps from Aug. 5, 1943 to Nov. 27, 1945, according to a news release.

Her medal presentation came about 79 years later.