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Jessie Blackstone Billings
-- she died in 1998 at 91 years old. Jessie was the
oldest of the family and she ran away and got married at
16 years old.
During World War II she
entered the WAAC and was shipped to Panama Canal Zone
where she worked in the Post Office for most of the war.
Her husband, Willard, was in
the tank core in Africa fighting the Germans. He won
several medals for bravery.
In her retired years she
would go to her Baptist Encampment Program. One summer
she became friends with one of the women named Clyde
Eikenburg. They teamed up playing dominoes and had lots
of fun summer after summer and became very good
friends. They would call each other during the year to
visit over the phone. One summer while playing
dominoes, Jessie mentioned that her brother and family
was coming home from overseas and she was anxious to see
them. Clyde said she had a niece coming from overseas
also this summer. What a coincidence! Jessie mentioned
the he lived in Saudi Arabia and Clyde said so did her
niece and family. What another coincidence!! So Jessie
said they might know each other, their names are Bob and
Gay Nell Blackstone and Clyde about jumped out of her
chair with surprise! That was her niece!!!!
They had been good friends
for 4-5 years!!!
Jessie had one daughter,
Marie Billings, and three grandchildren.
Victoria, Texas
News Paper Article (WAAC stands for Women's
Auxiliary Army Corps)
VICTORIA GIRL MEMBER OF
FOSTER WAAC DETACHMENT
Two Officers Arrive to Command Women Soldiers at Air
Base
Jessie Billings, who was
born in Victoria and moved to Houston with her
parents when she was two years old, returned to the
scene of her birth last week as a leader with the
WAACs at Foster Field. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
B. J. Blackstone, Houston, Leader Billings, whose
rank corresponds to that of sergeant, was a
production manager in a Houston plant for the past
12 years.
Others in the latest
contingent are First Officer (Capt.) Jane R.
McLaughlin, Kansas City, Mo.; Third Officer (2nd
Lt.) June V. Balogh, Clarksburg, W. Va.; Leader
Marion Pantzer, Brooklyn, N. Y. and the following
auxiliaries: Imogene Jonogan, South Fork, Pa.;
Eleanor Kronenkamp, Pittsburgh; Anoninette Semanick,
Heidelberg, Pa; Anna Sullivan, Manchester, N. H. ;
Hazel Higginson, Nashau, N. H. Anna Keyser,
Philomene Lewandowski and Jean Paine, all of
Baltimore, Md.; Helen Duggan, Quincy, Mass.; Linnie
Reece, Dallas; Charlotte Baca, Las Vegas, N. Mex.;
Sophie Bia, Canyon Dell Muerto, Ariz.; Iris Owen,
Huntington, W. Va.; Emma Mitchell, Carmel, Maine,
and Hattie Embray, Morgantown, Ky.
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