World War II History

Anna Belle Maley, Warrant Officer, US Army, World War II & Korea

My adopted Mother loved the Army and America; she joined the WACs before they were officially part of the Army at the age of 18 in Houston, Texas. She served prior to WW-II, and was there in WW-II at the very beginning. She served both in Europe and later in the Pacific. She was in Berlin days after Hitler met his end.

She was the only certified Female Sherman Tank Commander in the US Army. Somewhere there is a recruiting poster with her in the copula of her tank. I have never found it, but I keep looking. She was in G2 so that she could drive the generals in their staff cars and was cleared to hear what they talked about. She talked very little about her service, even when I was in Naval Security Group many years later. Then she continued on in the Army into the war in Korea where she met my adopted father, who was an Army Reserve Captain and Doctor. They met at Camp Nara in Japan where she was the PX Officer.

Mother was always a sweet, loving woman. I used to laugh when the kids I grew up with said, “your Mamma wears combat boots!” I would just reply, “Yes, she does, you got a problem with that?” I was always proud of her. A sweet woman, she made the home that I grew up in a pleasant place that I always knew my friends were welcome, but God help you if you made her mad. She was also tough as nails. In Japan she stood toe-to-toe with a Marine General and he is the one who backed down. I still get a chuckle out of that. She will be greatly missed.

-Stephen C. Maley

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