TECH4 Dorothy-Mae Hinson Brandt Oral History

title:

TECH4 Dorothy-Mae Hinson Brandt Oral History

creator:

Brandt, Dorothy Mae (Hinson) (1927 May 3 - )

subject:

Women's Army Corps (WAC)

description:

Dorothy Mae Brandt (formerly Hinson) was born on May 3, 1927 in Monroe, North Carolina. Her family has a history of military service stretching back to the Revolutionary War, and her two brothers eligible for service during World War II joined the Navy, Army, and Air Force. Dorothy was 16 years old when, after a graveyard shift inspecting tracer bullets, she went to a recruiter to enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in 1944. At that time, a woman had to be 20 years old with parental consent or 21 years old without to serve. The recruiter never asked Dorothy Mae's age and accepted a signed testament from a neighbor who had said that she was 21. Dorothy Mae had convinced the neighbor to vouch for her by arguing that he was unable to serve, and she could serve in his place. After successfully enlisting, Brandt went to basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia where she got the education of a lifetime. Even though Dorothy Mae was young in age, her spirit proved she had what it takes to be a leader. After basic, she stayed at Fort Oglethorpe, first at the Post Office then as an active training sergeant in charge of other women, some of them twice her age. Brandt was then sent to Fort Des Moines, Iowa for overseas training. In late spring 1945, she traveled across the Atlantic with 100 WACs to serve in General Mark Clark's 15th Army as it made its way through northern Italy to occupy Vienna, Austria. She remembers witnessing how people were struggling after the destruction of war, especially as the city was split into four sectors, each run by a different Allied power. Although she thought to disclose her true age before being discharged, she was warned against it and kept it to herself. After returning to the States in 1946, she was recruited for a one-year assignment with other WACs in Heidelberg, Germany. She was assigned to the AG Records Section with the 3rd Army of Occupation for that year. Dorothy Mae made lifetime relationships with many people, including her husband who she was married to for well over 60 years. Another friend was a woman that worked at the barrack and had served in the German army. As a gift, the woman gave Brandt a picture of herself, and on the back it was written: "It is so easy to remember and so hard to forget". This statement rang true and stayed forever in Dorothy Mae's heart and mind. She even used this phrase to highlight a chapter in a book about America's underage service men and women, titled America's Youngest Warriors. She was discharged upon returning to the US in 1947 at the age of 19, still too young to have enlisted in the first place. She had reached the rank of Tech4 and was awarded an Army Good Conduct Medal, WAC Service Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Army of Occupation Medal. No transcript of this interview is currently available.

publisher:

Military Women's Memorial Foundation

contributor:

Reborchick, Marcy

date:

2011-07-15

type:

Audio

format:

CD

identifier:

1159; 2011.1159

source:

CLIR - Recordings at Risk

language:

English

relation:

011206

coverage:

World War II (1939-1945) | 1944-47

rights:

Unrestricted