BAKERSFIELD, CA - This weekend, 39 WWII and Korean War veterans will head to Washington, D.C.. to see the memorials built for them as part of the 12th Honor Flight Kern County. Of those veterans, four women will be on the trip.
WWII Veteran Madonna Marek is one of them.
"My friends used to call me the ripple because I'm so short, but we were officially NAVY WAVES," said Marek.
She was just 17 years old when she joined the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.
Marek said, "We had to go to bootcamp and then we had to go to training school and then we had our jobs."
They took on a variety of duties during WWII. Marek worked in accounting in Cleveland, Ohio.
"My job there was to make sure the wives of the servicemen go their allotments on time. Because the women had to live on that. If they didn't get, they would write their husbands. Here they're over fighting a war and then they have to worry about their wives too. So it was very important," she said.
About 280,000 women served in the armed forces during WWII -- 86,000 of them were waves.
Marek said, "I loved it. I felt very important. I felt like I was a part of our country. Whenever there's a flag, I salute it. I'm part of this country. I'm not over there fighting, but I'm doing my part for it."
Marek says being in the Navy changed her life for the better.
"Because I was in service, I was able to go to school on the GI bill. Because I was able to go to school on the GI bill, I became a teacher and I was a teacher for 48 years and I loved that part of it," she said.
Marek says she's had a fulfilling life, but there's one part of her service she'll never forget.
"I met this Merchant Marine and he taught me to dance. We became inseparable. We danced so well that they used to make circles and watch us around," she said.
They were engaged to be married, but the thing they enjoyed so much also kept them apart.
Marek said, "He had his leg cut off and he wouldn't contact me anymore because he knew I loved to dance and didn't want to hurt me. I never heard from him after that."
Getting ready to relive some of WWII, during honor flight, brought up some of those memories.
"It's going to sound crazy, but maybe there's a possibility my friend might be on the flight from out of New York or something. I just might meet him, I don't know. I can always hope."
The twelfth Honor Flight Kern County will take off from Meadows Field, Saturday at 6:30 a.m.. You're encouraged to see them off. If you plan to do that, organizers say you should get there around 5 a.m.
They'll return home Monday night. 17's Kristin Price will be in D.C. with them. We'll have more from the trip this weekend.
WWII Veteran Madonna Marek is one of them.
"My friends used to call me the ripple because I'm so short, but we were officially NAVY WAVES," said Marek.
She was just 17 years old when she joined the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.
Marek said, "We had to go to bootcamp and then we had to go to training school and then we had our jobs."
They took on a variety of duties during WWII. Marek worked in accounting in Cleveland, Ohio.
"My job there was to make sure the wives of the servicemen go their allotments on time. Because the women had to live on that. If they didn't get, they would write their husbands. Here they're over fighting a war and then they have to worry about their wives too. So it was very important," she said.
About 280,000 women served in the armed forces during WWII -- 86,000 of them were waves.
Marek said, "I loved it. I felt very important. I felt like I was a part of our country. Whenever there's a flag, I salute it. I'm part of this country. I'm not over there fighting, but I'm doing my part for it."
Marek says being in the Navy changed her life for the better.
"Because I was in service, I was able to go to school on the GI bill. Because I was able to go to school on the GI bill, I became a teacher and I was a teacher for 48 years and I loved that part of it," she said.
Marek says she's had a fulfilling life, but there's one part of her service she'll never forget.
"I met this Merchant Marine and he taught me to dance. We became inseparable. We danced so well that they used to make circles and watch us around," she said.
They were engaged to be married, but the thing they enjoyed so much also kept them apart.
Marek said, "He had his leg cut off and he wouldn't contact me anymore because he knew I loved to dance and didn't want to hurt me. I never heard from him after that."
Getting ready to relive some of WWII, during honor flight, brought up some of those memories.
"It's going to sound crazy, but maybe there's a possibility my friend might be on the flight from out of New York or something. I just might meet him, I don't know. I can always hope."
The twelfth Honor Flight Kern County will take off from Meadows Field, Saturday at 6:30 a.m.. You're encouraged to see them off. If you plan to do that, organizers say you should get there around 5 a.m.
They'll return home Monday night. 17's Kristin Price will be in D.C. with them. We'll have more from the trip this weekend.