"Men did have a feeling that you should not be there, so you had to get used to the idea that you were not their favorite." (Audio Interview, 16:10)

Essie Dell O'Bryant Woods

War: World War, 1939-1945 Branch: WAC (Women's Army Corps) Unit: 6888 Central Postal Directory Service Location: Paris, Loudun and Rouen, France; Birmingham, England Rank: Staff Sergeant Place of Birth: GA

Essie Woods and her sisters, one older and one younger, all enlisted in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps in 1943, but Essie was turned away for being underweight. After a month of reverse dieting, she passed the test, though she had missed out on training with her siblings. She got a chance to serve overseas in the waning days of the war, working at a postal unit that followed the troops from England into liberated France. Along the way, she endured primitive living conditions, saw first-hand the devastation of the war in France, and made many lifelong friends.