August 30, 2023 • 17 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, when Ilene Hall enlisted in the Army WAC in 1943, she was following her husband, Edward “Ken” Hall, to war. When her husband, to whom she was married in March 1943, finished his training and was about to be shipped overseas, the young Canton, Ohio girl decided not to put an ocean between them. Here she is to tell her story!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
from the arts to sports, and from business to history
and everything in between, including your stories. There are some
of our favorites. Our next story, well, it's one about service,
love and sacrifice. Let's follow Eileen Hall's incredible journey across
(00:33):
Europe as she searches for her husband in the middle
of World War iiO. Eileen was a member in the
Woman's Army Corps or WHACK. We got together with Eileen
and her daughter Sherry, who both live in Canton, Ohio.
Here's Eileen.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm from Canton, Ohio. I was born in ten eleven,
twenty three, and my mother and dad had a restaurant
in downtown Canton, and we had a hotel up above
the restaurant, and that's where I was raised. We lived
right across the street from McKinley High School, so all
(01:12):
I had to do was walk for high school was
walk across the street and go to school. After my
mother made it to my high school graduation, and shortly
after that she passed on and my dad remarried, and
I felt very uncomfortable at home with a different mother, really,
(01:34):
and you were working at Kimpkin and Rover Bearing Company.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So it's a long time.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
That's seventy five years ago, you know, so I'm trying
to remember a lot of it. I'll never forget. But
and there I met a girl and we became friends,
and we worked in the stationary supply office. And she
had a boyfriend from Galli and Ohio, and every time
he came up to see her, he brought his brother.
(02:02):
So she said, do you think you'd mind dating his
brother if he brings him up? And I said, oh no,
Well that was it because we just melded together and
it's just worked out. So but he was being drafted
like all the he was going to be sent to Oklahoma.
(02:23):
So after my dad remarried, I just didn't feel comfortable
at home. So I said, I think I always wanted
to go to California. So I said, I think I'll
go to California because I've always wanted to go there.
So I boarded a train and it stopped in Oklahoma,
and I thought, well, I'll just see you know him
(02:44):
while i'm here. So that's as far as I got.
We got married after I was there a few days.
We had to go through blood tests and it was.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Really you know.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So, and we were married in a parson's office. And
then it wasn't long after that that he was sent overseas.
So I thought, well, since I'm married to him, I'll
go back home and see what I can do, you know.
So I went back home and I decided to enlist
(03:17):
in the service. So I went in downtown Campton where
they had their recruiting office, and told them I would
like to.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Join the Army.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, the Navy I really wanted, but you couldn't get
in that one until later. So I decided I'd get
in the Army if I could. So, even though I
was married, I had to get my dad's consent. Because
of my age. I couldn't do it unless I had
my parents' consent. So I went to where he worked
and told him, and he said, well, if I don't
(03:47):
do this, you'll do something else crazy. So he signed.
He was a World War One veteran, so he signed
and I took it back. And after that I got
into basic training in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
From there I was I volunteer.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Said as we were being interviewed, the girls that had
already volunteered, said you'll be sorry, you know, and so,
but I volunteered for everything, so I always got to
pick up things that I wanted to do, so I
thought that was a good idea.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
From there, I was.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for driver training, and I
led a convoy through Georgia as one of our tryouts,
you know, to see how we did and so. And
then we had to go in gas chambers and take
off of the gas mask and stay for a few
(04:50):
minutes and then go out and catch your breath again.
And then we had to lay down and they fired
shots over, you know, to see how we'd react. And
then we had to go through other training abandoning ship.
We had to go, you know, to a top of
(05:11):
the ship that would be and go down the sides,
and a couple of the girls were just terrified of
doing it, so I helped along with them. And then
after that was all done, I was sent to Fort Lewis, Washington,
and I.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Was only there for a little while.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
The fellows in the barracks were used to having women there,
and boy, every time we'd walk out everywhere shoe there
were guys walking with us. So but anyway, I volunteered.
They would asked for volunteers to go overseas, so I volunteered,
but there were too many, so I wasn't going to
(05:52):
get to go. But at the last minute one gal
dropped out and so I took her place. And then
it was a long after that that we were sent
to Fort dix Or, New Jersey and boarded the Queen
Elizabeth and.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Headed for France.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
So on a ship that in peacetime would accommodate two people,
there were twenty four wax in one room. And then
we went on and we landed at Glasgow, Scotland, in
the Isle of Clyde.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
And.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
There we were met with the Red Cross and the
Salvation Army and they gave us food until they decided
where we were going to go from there, and some
of us boarded a train and headed for Sutton Coalfield, England.
That's where I was going to be stationed for a while.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And we've been listening to Eileen Hall's journey to find
her husband in the middle of World War two. A
great backstory. You can't wait to hear more. Sure you
can't either. When we come back more of Aileen whole
story here on our American Stories. Folks, if you love
(07:32):
the stories we tell about this great country, and especially
the stories of America's rich past, know that all of
our stories about American history, from war to innovation, culture
and faith, are brought to us by the great folks
at Hillsdale College, a place where students study all the
things that are beautiful in life and all the things
that are good in life. And if you can't get
to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free
(07:54):
and terrific online courses. Go to Hillsdale dot edu to
learn more. And we continue here on our American Stories
(08:14):
with Eileen Hall's story. And what an adventurer this lady was,
my goodness, and so many other women who served in
the war. She wanted to be in the theater and
volunteered for it. Let's pick up, but we last left off.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Some of us boarded a train and headed for Sutton Coalfield, England.
That's where I was going to be stationed for a while,
So that's where I had to drive a jeep. I
went through the Motor Corps, so I was allowed to
drive a jeep and up to a two and a
half ton truck, so I drove the everybody in Sutton
(08:53):
Coalfield in England had to list if they had a
room available for GI's because they didn't want the women
staying in rooms. They wanted the men to be there.
So that's what I did for a while and got
them all done, and then I was sent I drove
(09:14):
a major there that four of us were drivers, and
we all drove an officer. So I drove a major.
So we were on call twenty four hours a day
for whatever reason they wanted us.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So but.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Oh, I had to drive in the fog so bad
that I had to put my foot up. They drive
on the left side on the curb so I would
know where I was going. And because of that, my
left leg is not as big as my right one.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
It took that much.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
It froze, you know, and I had to go back
to the barracks and they put me behind a bakery
and so I could thaw out to My leg was
so from driving. So we had gone through many air
raids at night, and one of the gals said, if
I'm going to get killed, I'm going to do.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
It right here.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
And so the rest of us society we stayed together.
So that was it, because there were nightly air raids.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
You know.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So after I left England, I went to France and
was with the post office there as a driver. So
every morning i'd drive into Paris and you could there
were the streets were empty except for people going through
garbage cans trying to get something to eat. People and dogs.
And that's something I'll never forget.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
And as I.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Drove to the post office that I was beat Just
as I drove in, something cracked on the steering wheel
and I couldn't steer it.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
But I was already there, so I was.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
I felt that was a blessing because if I had
done that out in the you know, out on the streets,
it would have been something else.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
I have faith, and I just.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Felt I'd be protected whatever I did, because I if
I volunteered for something, I felt that that's what I
should do. So I just had a different life than
some of the other Wax.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
But the Battle of the Balls.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Was going on then, and they were bringing the wounded
into the hospital in Paris, and our commanding officer was
called from from the hospital and asked him to send
some Wax down to help the wounded. Were coming in
so fast. So our commanding officer called me and said,
(11:45):
you know, going to take some wax to the hospital.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
So I got a.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Ton and a half truck and loaded it with wax
and drove into the hospital in front of the hospital
and walked in and hear the gis are all laying
on the floor and you could just walk sideways, and
so they we would s kneel down and talk to
him and take you know, we all went and talk
to each one and ask what where they were from,
(12:10):
and just got 'em calmed downs before and then they
finally found room for him.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
All So, but when I.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Had time off, I was allowed to take the jeep
and I became acquainted with two fellas from Iowa, and
one was uh had his uh left leg amputated below
his knees, so he was gonna be sent home, and
he said he hated to see go home without seeing Paris.
And I said, well, I'll see what I can do.
(12:37):
So I went to my commanding officer, told her to
the store, and she says, you take a jeep and
show him wherever you want to go. So were there
were two wax in the back and me driving and
him sit beside me, and I took him all over Paris.
So he was s you know, excited about that, and uh,
we kept in touch for years after I got home.
(13:01):
But I got a letter from my husband saying he
was going to be sent to the CBI. That's a
China burma, and I thought, and I started crying and
the officer was blow me and she came up and
wanted to know why I was crying, and I said, well,
my husband's going to be sent to the cb area.
(13:22):
And I said I'd probably never see him again, and
she said, I'll see what I can do. So she
got me orders attached to Mark Clark's but he never
knew I was part of his service. But that got
me to early airport and asked, you know, if anybody
was going to Paris, and there was a plane just
(13:43):
out there that was going to be going to Italy.
And I told my story to the guy at the desk,
and so he said, that plane right there, you can
get on. So they put down the bombay doors and
I walked out and they one on one side and
one on the other, lifted me up and putting in
(14:05):
where the gun tour it is.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
And that's how I rode from there to.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Italy and I got off of the plane and I
was standing on the road and I didn't realize right
in front of me was the Tower of Pisa, because
I didn't realize it was.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
That big, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And so I walked out and I started hitchhiking, and
along came a British guy in a truck with three
soldiers in the back, and one was They were attending
to one and I said, what happened. She said, he
got hurt, but not by fire. I don't know exactly
how I got hurt. And they're going into Rome. So
(14:45):
they stopped for water, and the driver of the truck
had to come back and stand in front of me
so I could lean to the back because the people
just came from everywhere and they wanted to touch me,
and you know, and I.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Didn't know what to do. So they looked out.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
For me, and then we left and went on to
Rome to the Red Cross there, and they put me
up for the night. The next morning was a Sunday,
so it was church, so I went down and went
to church, and after a little while before church started,
a fella sat down beside me and he looked at
(15:24):
my pat He says, you're not from around here, and
I said no, and I told him my story. He said,
I'll see what I can do. So the next day
he had gotten permission from his officer and he was
able to take me from Rome to Milano. And on
(15:45):
the way it started to rain and the fella didn't
know how to do the top.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
To the jeep.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
So I showed him how to do that and he
took me up and my husband was waiting for me
waiting there. So we had our honeymoon on Lake Como,
and I had our own villa attached to a regular
one which is owned now by George Clooney. And I'm
sure George Clooney doesn't know it, but I'm going to
(16:13):
write a letter to him sometime if he ever gets it.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
The villa DSSD. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
So yeah, that was the fifth Army rest camp. So
we left from Laharre on the eb Alexander headed for
the United States.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
As we pulled into.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
New York Harbor, all the lights came on and they
took us off the boat and fed us the best
Thanksgiving dinner we ever had. So and from there we
had to go to Fort Dix to get released from
the army, and then I boarded a train for Canton, Ohio.
(16:52):
And when I got to Canton, there there were my
husband and my dad.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And just welcomed me.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
He got home seven days before I did. But other
than that, why I think my experience was something that
not too many people have the opportunity to experience. So
that's my love story and I love to tell it
so and thanks for the opportunity to tell it.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
So that's it.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And that's it, and thanks for the opportunity to let
us tell it, Eileen. And what a beautiful story about
so many things, particularly just a sheer sense of adventure.
Off to Europe to fight Nazis, searching for each other,
learning how to drive trucks and tanks, supply lines to
defeat one of the world's worst enemies in history. Eileen
(17:47):
Hall's journey to find her husband in the middle of
World War Two. Her story here on our American Story
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
from the arts to sports, and from business to history
and everything in between, including your stories. There are some
of our favorites. Our next story, well, it's one about service,
love and sacrifice. Let's follow Eileen Hall's incredible journey across
(00:33):
Europe as she searches for her husband in the middle
of World War iiO. Eileen was a member in the
Woman's Army Corps or WHACK. We got together with Eileen
and her daughter Sherry, who both live in Canton, Ohio.
Here's Eileen.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
I'm from Canton, Ohio. I was born in ten eleven,
twenty three, and my mother and dad had a restaurant
in downtown Canton, and we had a hotel up above
the restaurant, and that's where I was raised. We lived
right across the street from McKinley High School, so all
(01:12):
I had to do was walk for high school was
walk across the street and go to school. After my
mother made it to my high school graduation, and shortly
after that she passed on and my dad remarried, and
I felt very uncomfortable at home with a different mother, really,
(01:34):
and you were working at Kimpkin and Rover Bearing Company.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
So it's a long time.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
That's seventy five years ago, you know, so I'm trying
to remember a lot of it. I'll never forget. But
and there I met a girl and we became friends,
and we worked in the stationary supply office. And she
had a boyfriend from Galli and Ohio, and every time
he came up to see her, he brought his brother.
(02:02):
So she said, do you think you'd mind dating his
brother if he brings him up? And I said, oh no,
Well that was it because we just melded together and
it's just worked out. So but he was being drafted
like all the he was going to be sent to Oklahoma.
(02:23):
So after my dad remarried, I just didn't feel comfortable
at home. So I said, I think I always wanted
to go to California. So I said, I think I'll
go to California because I've always wanted to go there.
So I boarded a train and it stopped in Oklahoma,
and I thought, well, I'll just see you know him
(02:44):
while i'm here. So that's as far as I got.
We got married after I was there a few days.
We had to go through blood tests and it was.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Really you know.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
So, and we were married in a parson's office. And
then it wasn't long after that that he was sent overseas.
So I thought, well, since I'm married to him, I'll
go back home and see what I can do, you know.
So I went back home and I decided to enlist
(03:17):
in the service. So I went in downtown Campton where
they had their recruiting office, and told them I would
like to.
Speaker 3 (03:26):
Join the Army.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Well, the Navy I really wanted, but you couldn't get
in that one until later. So I decided I'd get
in the Army if I could. So, even though I
was married, I had to get my dad's consent. Because
of my age. I couldn't do it unless I had
my parents' consent. So I went to where he worked
and told him, and he said, well, if I don't
(03:47):
do this, you'll do something else crazy. So he signed.
He was a World War One veteran, so he signed
and I took it back. And after that I got
into basic training in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
From there I was I volunteer.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Said as we were being interviewed, the girls that had
already volunteered, said you'll be sorry, you know, and so,
but I volunteered for everything, so I always got to
pick up things that I wanted to do, so I
thought that was a good idea.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
From there, I was.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Sent to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia for driver training, and I
led a convoy through Georgia as one of our tryouts,
you know, to see how we did and so. And
then we had to go in gas chambers and take
off of the gas mask and stay for a few
(04:50):
minutes and then go out and catch your breath again.
And then we had to lay down and they fired
shots over, you know, to see how we'd react. And
then we had to go through other training abandoning ship.
We had to go, you know, to a top of
(05:11):
the ship that would be and go down the sides,
and a couple of the girls were just terrified of
doing it, so I helped along with them. And then
after that was all done, I was sent to Fort Lewis, Washington,
and I.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Was only there for a little while.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
The fellows in the barracks were used to having women there,
and boy, every time we'd walk out everywhere shoe there
were guys walking with us. So but anyway, I volunteered.
They would asked for volunteers to go overseas, so I volunteered,
but there were too many, so I wasn't going to
(05:52):
get to go. But at the last minute one gal
dropped out and so I took her place. And then
it was a long after that that we were sent
to Fort dix Or, New Jersey and boarded the Queen
Elizabeth and.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Headed for France.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
So on a ship that in peacetime would accommodate two people,
there were twenty four wax in one room. And then
we went on and we landed at Glasgow, Scotland, in
the Isle of Clyde.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
And.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
There we were met with the Red Cross and the
Salvation Army and they gave us food until they decided
where we were going to go from there, and some
of us boarded a train and headed for Sutton Coalfield, England.
That's where I was going to be stationed for a while.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
And we've been listening to Eileen Hall's journey to find
her husband in the middle of World War two. A
great backstory. You can't wait to hear more. Sure you
can't either. When we come back more of Aileen whole
story here on our American Stories. Folks, if you love
(07:32):
the stories we tell about this great country, and especially
the stories of America's rich past, know that all of
our stories about American history, from war to innovation, culture
and faith, are brought to us by the great folks
at Hillsdale College, a place where students study all the
things that are beautiful in life and all the things
that are good in life. And if you can't get
to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to you with their free
(07:54):
and terrific online courses. Go to Hillsdale dot edu to
learn more. And we continue here on our American Stories
(08:14):
with Eileen Hall's story. And what an adventurer this lady was,
my goodness, and so many other women who served in
the war. She wanted to be in the theater and
volunteered for it. Let's pick up, but we last left off.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Some of us boarded a train and headed for Sutton Coalfield, England.
That's where I was going to be stationed for a while,
So that's where I had to drive a jeep. I
went through the Motor Corps, so I was allowed to
drive a jeep and up to a two and a
half ton truck, so I drove the everybody in Sutton
(08:53):
Coalfield in England had to list if they had a
room available for GI's because they didn't want the women
staying in rooms. They wanted the men to be there.
So that's what I did for a while and got
them all done, and then I was sent I drove
(09:14):
a major there that four of us were drivers, and
we all drove an officer. So I drove a major.
So we were on call twenty four hours a day
for whatever reason they wanted us.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
So but.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Oh, I had to drive in the fog so bad
that I had to put my foot up. They drive
on the left side on the curb so I would
know where I was going. And because of that, my
left leg is not as big as my right one.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
It took that much.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
It froze, you know, and I had to go back
to the barracks and they put me behind a bakery
and so I could thaw out to My leg was
so from driving. So we had gone through many air
raids at night, and one of the gals said, if
I'm going to get killed, I'm going to do.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
It right here.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
And so the rest of us society we stayed together.
So that was it, because there were nightly air raids.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
You know.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So after I left England, I went to France and
was with the post office there as a driver. So
every morning i'd drive into Paris and you could there
were the streets were empty except for people going through
garbage cans trying to get something to eat. People and dogs.
And that's something I'll never forget.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
And as I.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Drove to the post office that I was beat Just
as I drove in, something cracked on the steering wheel
and I couldn't steer it.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
But I was already there, so I was.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
I felt that was a blessing because if I had
done that out in the you know, out on the streets,
it would have been something else.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
I have faith, and I just.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Felt I'd be protected whatever I did, because I if
I volunteered for something, I felt that that's what I
should do. So I just had a different life than
some of the other Wax.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
But the Battle of the Balls.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Was going on then, and they were bringing the wounded
into the hospital in Paris, and our commanding officer was
called from from the hospital and asked him to send
some Wax down to help the wounded. Were coming in
so fast. So our commanding officer called me and said,
(11:45):
you know, going to take some wax to the hospital.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
So I got a.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Ton and a half truck and loaded it with wax
and drove into the hospital in front of the hospital
and walked in and hear the gis are all laying
on the floor and you could just walk sideways, and
so they we would s kneel down and talk to
him and take you know, we all went and talk
to each one and ask what where they were from,
(12:10):
and just got 'em calmed downs before and then they
finally found room for him.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
All So, but when I.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Had time off, I was allowed to take the jeep
and I became acquainted with two fellas from Iowa, and
one was uh had his uh left leg amputated below
his knees, so he was gonna be sent home, and
he said he hated to see go home without seeing Paris.
And I said, well, I'll see what I can do.
(12:37):
So I went to my commanding officer, told her to
the store, and she says, you take a jeep and
show him wherever you want to go. So were there
were two wax in the back and me driving and
him sit beside me, and I took him all over Paris.
So he was s you know, excited about that, and uh,
we kept in touch for years after I got home.
(13:01):
But I got a letter from my husband saying he
was going to be sent to the CBI. That's a
China burma, and I thought, and I started crying and
the officer was blow me and she came up and
wanted to know why I was crying, and I said, well,
my husband's going to be sent to the cb area.
(13:22):
And I said I'd probably never see him again, and
she said, I'll see what I can do. So she
got me orders attached to Mark Clark's but he never
knew I was part of his service. But that got
me to early airport and asked, you know, if anybody
was going to Paris, and there was a plane just
(13:43):
out there that was going to be going to Italy.
And I told my story to the guy at the desk,
and so he said, that plane right there, you can
get on. So they put down the bombay doors and
I walked out and they one on one side and
one on the other, lifted me up and putting in
(14:05):
where the gun tour it is.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
And that's how I rode from there to.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Italy and I got off of the plane and I
was standing on the road and I didn't realize right
in front of me was the Tower of Pisa, because
I didn't realize it was.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
That big, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And so I walked out and I started hitchhiking, and
along came a British guy in a truck with three
soldiers in the back, and one was They were attending
to one and I said, what happened. She said, he
got hurt, but not by fire. I don't know exactly
how I got hurt. And they're going into Rome. So
(14:45):
they stopped for water, and the driver of the truck
had to come back and stand in front of me
so I could lean to the back because the people
just came from everywhere and they wanted to touch me,
and you know, and I.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Didn't know what to do. So they looked out.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
For me, and then we left and went on to
Rome to the Red Cross there, and they put me
up for the night. The next morning was a Sunday,
so it was church, so I went down and went
to church, and after a little while before church started,
a fella sat down beside me and he looked at
(15:24):
my pat He says, you're not from around here, and
I said no, and I told him my story. He said,
I'll see what I can do. So the next day
he had gotten permission from his officer and he was
able to take me from Rome to Milano. And on
(15:45):
the way it started to rain and the fella didn't
know how to do the top.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
To the jeep.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
So I showed him how to do that and he
took me up and my husband was waiting for me
waiting there. So we had our honeymoon on Lake Como,
and I had our own villa attached to a regular
one which is owned now by George Clooney. And I'm
sure George Clooney doesn't know it, but I'm going to
(16:13):
write a letter to him sometime if he ever gets it.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
The villa DSSD. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
So yeah, that was the fifth Army rest camp. So
we left from Laharre on the eb Alexander headed for
the United States.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
As we pulled into.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
New York Harbor, all the lights came on and they
took us off the boat and fed us the best
Thanksgiving dinner we ever had. So and from there we
had to go to Fort Dix to get released from
the army, and then I boarded a train for Canton, Ohio.
(16:52):
And when I got to Canton, there there were my
husband and my dad.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
And just welcomed me.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
He got home seven days before I did. But other
than that, why I think my experience was something that
not too many people have the opportunity to experience. So
that's my love story and I love to tell it
so and thanks for the opportunity to tell it.
Speaker 3 (17:22):
So that's it.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And that's it, and thanks for the opportunity to let
us tell it, Eileen. And what a beautiful story about
so many things, particularly just a sheer sense of adventure.
Off to Europe to fight Nazis, searching for each other,
learning how to drive trucks and tanks, supply lines to
defeat one of the world's worst enemies in history. Eileen
(17:47):
Hall's journey to find her husband in the middle of
World War Two. Her story here on our American Story
Host
Lee Habeeb
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