During the month of September, the Mission Viejo Chapter visited with 13 WWII Veterans in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the end of WWII. Each veteran, who ranged in age from 92 to 100, was presented with a United States Veterans pin and a certificate commemorating this important anniversary. Two of the veterans not only served in WWII, but also were called back to serve in the Korean War. It was an honor to meet with them and hear about their service.

One of the veterans we visited was WWII veteran Muriel Engelman, who is 99 years old. She entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corps soon after she graduated from Massachusetts General Nursing school and trained in an English hospital. Muriel helped set up a hospital in Normandy, France after the invasion there. Later she served on the front lines of the battle of Belgium. “Bullets would tear through our tents like they were cutting through paper,” she describes, adding nurses’ lives were lost.

In 2018, her courage during WWII continue to be recognized when the French government knighted her by appointing her as a Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor. If you want to hear more about Muriel, her personal memoir was published in 2008 titled Mission Accomplished: Stop the Clock.

Photo top L to R: Ruth Ann Rousseau, Joyce Van Schaack, WWII Vet Bud Guillot, April Hay, Service to Veterans Chair, Bunny Smith, 1st Vice Regent and Metty Thomason, Parliamentarian.

Photo bottom: WWII veteran Muriel Engelman