Women's History Month: Recognizing those of the Greatest Generation
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 7:23am
When walking in a mall or driving behind an older person with only the top of their head showing above the seat in their eighties or early nineties, could that person be a hero?
The Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary, 2001, defines a hero, “A conspicuous possessor of other admirable qualities.” I have known Phyllis Lorraine Anker Bendure for 33 years. After every conversation with her, I discover more of her admirable qualities.
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March is Women's History Month. Click here to learn more. Click here to read Beaton's remarkable story of Hazel Marjorie Stamper.
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Weighing only 4 pounds at birth on March 7, 1919 in Reno, Phyllis was not expected to live. At 92 and still kicking, her doctor was wrong. Phyllis and her four brothers lived on the Lovelock ranch her grandfather, Peter Hanson Anker, homesteaded in 1877.
She graduated from Pershing County High School, the Mustangs, in 1937 and from University of Nevada in 1941. After taking flying lessons Phyllis was not tall enough to pass the physical by a 1/2!” She taught Business subjects at Eureka High School 1941-1942 and at Yerington High School 1942-1943.
All of Phyllis’ friends had were in the Armed Services by June 1943. Phyllis enlisted in the WACs, Women Army Corps, on 9/20/1943. She traveled by train to Des Moines, IA for WAC boot camp graduating as a private.
The Army needed women who knew how to type, freeing more males for combat. At the Army Administrative School in Des Moines, Phyllis taught WACs the touch system of typing. WACs typed most of the reports for the Army.
In 1944 her assignment was the newly constructed Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The WACs’ barracks were located at nearby Fort Meyers. She was one of the WACs assigned to Chief of Staff of the Army, General George C. Marshall’s office handling top secret information.
Being fluent in French, Phyllis accompanied General Marshall when he traveled to Montreal for one of the President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill conferences. On Tuesday, June 13, 1944 Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Churchill had a Tea for the US and Canadian WACs attending the conference. Phyllis had an opportunity to chat with both gracious hostesses.
She was discharged on February 18, 1946 and returned to Nevada on a train with a coal burning locomotive. Everyone on the train had a layer of fine coal dust on them and their clothing.
In May 1946 Phyllis married Ted Bendure in Lovelock after a whirlwind romance. They had three children; Teddy born 3/28/47, Fred born 12/8/53, and Patricia Sue born 7/30/55. The Bendures moved to Carson City in 1967. Phyllis taught Business subjects at Carson High School. She retired in 1983 after teaching for 34 years in Nevada.
Sixteen million men and women served their county during WW II. Today, a thousand WW II veterans pass away every day. Each vet has a story. If you know a vet, listen to and record their story. Discover a hero before it’s too late. Their sacrifices defeated Germany and Japan in 1945; the reason we speak English, not German.
— Writer Ken Beaton is a retired secondary business teacher who enjoys reading, writing, traveling, and conversational Italian. He is a 35-year Carson City resident and an active volunteer. Ken was voted Kiwanian of the Year by the Kiwanis of Sierra Nevada, the evening club.
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