Meet 94-year-old Annette Nichols, a woman who made history by joining the Marine Corps in World War II.
In 1942, while Annette was working at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, she went for a walk and encountered a large poster of Uncle Sam with the words, “Want You! We Need You!” she recounted to WPVI.
That sign was exactly what she needed to join the service — saying “Okay Unc, I’m coming in!”
Nichols joined the Marine Corps and ended up at the motor transport pool at Pearl Harbor.
Her job was to support the staff and escort people around the island. “Generals or anybody that needed, and I had a jeep,” said Nichols.
Nicols encountered a lot of damage from the war while stationed on the island, but she was young and it didn’t get to her. “We were so energetic, it’s unbelievable. Young and didn’t worry about a thing,” she said.
Eventually, she fell in love with another Marine shortly after leaving the service.
“He was on a thirty-day leave, so we started dating, never thinking we were going to get married,” Nichols laughs.
70 years later, it’s something that Nicols rarely talks about, but she remains proud of her service.
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