Camper, Manda E. T.

Manda E T Camper

Edith Thelma Amanda Camper was born on January 25, 1908, in Tennessee to Sarah Marinda Kirkham and George Eskridge Camper. She was raised and educated in Tennessee and had two brothers and three sisters.

In Rye, Manda lived at Highland Hall,131 Purchase St and she was secretary to Dr. Julian Hawthorne. Manda enlisted September 1, 1943 and served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II

The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was the women’s branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States as the WAC on 1 July 1943.

The WAAC were first trained in three major specialties. The brightest and nimblest were trained as switchboard operators. Next came the mechanics, who had to have a high degree of mechanical aptitude and problem solving ability. This was later expanded to dozens of specialties like Postal Clerk, Driver, Stenographer, and Clerk-Typist. WAC armorers maintained and repaired small arms and heavy weapons that they were not allowed to use.

General Douglas MacArthur called the WACs “my best soldiers”, adding that they worked harder, complained less and were better disciplined than men. Many generals wanted more of them and proposed to draft women but it was realized that this “would provoke considerable public outcry and Congressional opposition”, and so the War Department declined to take such a drastic step. Those 150,000 women who did serve released the equivalent of 7 divisions of men for combat. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said that “their contributions in efficiency, skill, spirit and determination are immeasurable”.

Edits Engineers’ Paper
First Lieut. Manda Camper, CE is the editor of the “U. M. V. D. News.” official publication edited and published monthly for personnel the Upper Mississippi Valley Division Corps of Engineers. The June edition contains eight pages of news and pictures and is enclosed in a bright red outside cover. Lieut. Camper was secretary to Dr. Julian Hawthorne previous to her entry into the service.
RYE, NEW YORK FRIDAY JUNE 22, 1945

After the war she would continue her career in the Military.

Edith Thelma Amanda Camper died on March 19, 1982, in Jefferson, Kentucky, at the age of 74.

Name: Thelma Parker
Social Security Number: 043-05-3902
Birth Date: 25 Jan 1908
Issue Year: Before 1951
Issue State: Connecticut
Last Residence: 40118, Fairdale, Jefferson, Kentucky, USA
Death Date: Mar 1982