Title: Eunice Onsrud Hall Papers and Photographs
Inclusive Dates: 1942-2004

Creator:

• Hall, Eunice Onsrud

Call Number: WVM Mss 841

Quantity: 1.2 linear ft. (3 archives boxes and 1 oversize folder) of papers and 0.6 linear ft. (2 archives boxes) of photographs.

Repository:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Have questions? Contact the Reference Archivist

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Veterans Museum (Map)

See the catalog entry for current shelf locations and additions.

Abstract:

Papers and photographs of Eunice Onsrud Hall, a member of the 6669th Women's Army Corps (W.A.C.) Headquarters Platoon who served in North Africa and Italy during World War II. The collection consists largely of the letters Hall wrote home to her family during her wartime service and also while she worked in Greece for the Corps of Engineers from 1947-1948. The war letters described her basic training in the United States and, to the extent allowed by censors, her overseas service as part of the 5th Army. She described military life, living conditions, and recreational activities during the war. Other war-related materials include her military papers and local newspaper clippings describing her service. Her correspondence from Greece also described living conditions and recreational activities in addition to her thoughts on the Greek people. Postcards document the trips she took to nearby countries during her time in Europe. Materials from her life as a veteran include two typed reminiscences, materials relating to her late husband Reynold Hall, also a World War II veteran, and her interest in the Women in Military Service Memorial near Washington, DC. Photographs include numerous unidentified shots of Hall and fellow W.A.C.'s in North Africa and Italy during World War II. There are many photographs of recreational activities in Greece from her stay there. Also included are photographs from her trip along with other 5th Army veterans to Italy in 2001 to visit American cemeteries there and old battlegrounds.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.wvm-mss00841

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Eunice Harriet Onsrud was born in Stoughton, Wisconsin on May 25, 1919. She attended local schools and graduated from Stoughton High School in 1937. She worked as a switchboard operator and did other clerical jobs prior to World War II.

She joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (W.A.A.C.) in December 1942 and began training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa in January 1943. She received additional training at the Army Administration School in Arkansas and at camps in Louisiana before arriving at Fort Devons, Massachusetts in May to prepare for overseas duty. In July, as part of the 182nd W.A.A.C. Headquarters Platoon, Onsrud was transferred to Camp Patrick Henry in Virginia for some final training before embarkation. She crossed the Atlantic aboard the S.S. Empress and arrived in North Africa on August 6.

From August 11 through November 13 Onsrud was stationed at Mostaganem, Algeria where she performed administrative duties with the Quartermaster Corps. During that time her unit became part of the Women's Army Corps (W.A.C.) and thus officially part of the United States Army. From Mostaganem the unit sailed to Naples, Italy, arriving November 17, 1943. Two days later her unit name changed to the 6669th W.A.C. Headquarters Platoon. She spent the remainder of the war in Italy with her unit and the 5th Army. Her duties included typing and taking dictation. Her unit was deactivated on August 4, 1945 and Onsrud was discharged two weeks later.

Following the war she worked for a time as a clerk for the Adjutant General in the Pentagon. In July 1947 she accepted a position with the Corps of Engineers as part of the American Mission for Aid to Greece. She worked in Greece from September 1947 through October 1948, after which she toured Europe for the remainder of the year. She continued to work for the federal government through retirement in 1975. In 1955 she married Reynold Hall, a fellow World War II veteran and settled in Baltimore. Following his death in 1995, she returned to the Madison area.

The papers of Eunice Onsrud Hall are divided into four series: World War II, Greece, Veteran Activities, and Photographs.

World War II (1942-1947) consists largely of the letters that Hall wrote home to her family during her training and service in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (W.A.A.C.), later renamed the Women's Army Corps (W.A.C.). Her service with the 6669th W.A.C. Headquarters Platoon took her through North Africa and into Italy as part of the 5th Army. The letters described the training she received stateside, her living conditions, and her excitement at serving her country. Upon going overseas censorship began to affect Hall's writings-- several letters have words and phrases cut out by a censor. The letters written from across the Atlantic thus focus more on non-military matters. Other materials in this series include her military papers, which provide the details of her service. Newspaper clippings show the semi-celebrity status Hall received during the war in her hometown. A New Testament and service prayer book reflect the importance of her religion and blank postcards give an idea of the locations through which she traveled.

Greece (1947-1949) contains letters that Hall wrote home to her family during her time in Greece as part of the Corps of Engineers aid program. Hall described her living conditions, how she spent her free time, and her impressions of the Greek people and the conditions they faced. Two informational pamphlets from the U.S. government give an idea of the knowledge Hall had going into Greece. There are newspaper clippings from her hometown paper that mention her travels and others that describe Greek culture. Blank postcards document the many European countries Hall visited during this time period. Also included is commemorative poster, signed by her co-workers, likely given to Hall as a going-away present.

Veteran Activities (1945-2004) includes materials documenting several aspects of Hall's life following her military service. Two typed reminiscences provide enormous detail about her time in the W.A.C. and life afterward. Some papers, including an obituary, give information about Hall's husband Reynold, also a World War II veteran, whom Hall met and married after the war. Travel papers and itineraries document Hall's role in a 2001 trip to Italy made by veterans of the 5th Army. Also included are correspondence and other materials relating to the Women in Military Service Memorial of which Hall was a charter member. Two membership lists of veterans of the 6669th W.A.C. Headquarters Platoon, printing in the years immediately following the war, demonstrate an interest the women had in staying in touch.

Photographs (1943-2001) consist of numerous shots taken by Hall during her World War II service, her time in Greece, and several veteran activities. The World War II shots are largely unidentified but, because they were arranged in a scrapbook by Hall, a general place and time can be assigned to them. There are several shots from basic training in the United States, including at the Army Administration School in Arkansas. Shots from North Africa show Hall's first months overseas. There are many photographs from her service in Italy. Her role as an Army cheerleader can be documented through photographs of the “Spaghetti Bowl,” a football game between the 5th Army and an Air Force unit in Italy in 1944. Photographs from Greece are also mostly unidentified and show mostly recreational activities and scenery. Included are photographs from trips to London and Istanbul. Finally, the veterans activities photographs consist largely of shots from the 5th Army trip to Italy in 2001. There are photographs of the veterans visiting American cemeteries in Italy and battle grounds such as Anzio and Monte Cassino. There are also photographs of her husband, Reynold, and of her trip to the Women's Army Corps Museum.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Eunice Hall, Oregon, WI, 2005. Accession Number: Mss 2005.70 and Mss 2005.75. This collection was organized as a result of the National Historic Publications and Records Commission project grant (2003-075).

Processing Information

Processed by Russell Horton in 2005.

	Series: World War II
	Subseries: Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1-9	Eunice to family, 1943-1945
Box   1 Folder   10	Others to Eunice, 1943-1945
Box   1 Folder   11	Ephemera
Box   1 Folder   12	Military papers, 1942-1945
Box   1 Folder   13	Medical records, 1943-1947
Box   1 Folder   14	Pay record book, 1943-1945
Box   2 Folder   1	New Testament, circa 1943
Box   2 Folder   2	Newspaper clippings, 1943-1945
Box   2 Folder   3	Service prayer book, 1943
Box   2 Folder   4-5	Postcards (blank), 1943-1945
	Series: Greece	⇧
Box   2 Folder   6	American mission for aid to Greece information handbook, 1947
Ov   3 Folder   24	Commemorative poster, circa 1948
	Subseries: Correspondence	⇧
Box   2 Folder   7-8	Eunice to family, 1947-1948
Box   2 Folder   9	Others to Eunice, 1947-1948
Box   2 Folder   10	Ephemera, 1947-1948
Box   2 Folder   11	Factual summary re: the American mission for aid to Greece, 1948
Box   2 Folder   12	Newsletter, 1948
Box   2 Folder   13	Newspaper clippings, 1948-1949
Box   3 Folder   1	Postcards (blank), circa 1947-1949
	Series: Veteran Activities	⇧
Box   3 Folder   2	5th Army trip to Italy, 2001
Box   3 Folder   3	6669th W.A.C. Headquarters Platoon Veterans lists, 1947-1949
Box   3 Folder   4	Reynold B. Hall, 1945-1946, 1996
Box   3 Folder   5	Poeschl thesis, 1982-1988
Box   3 Folder   6-7	Reminiscences, 1995, 2003
Box   3 Folder   8	Women's Army Corps Museum, undated
Box   3 Folder   9	Women in Military Service Memorial, 1989-2004
Box   3 Folder   10	Ephemera, circa 1995
Box   3 Folder   11	Newspaper clippings, circa 1995
	Series: Photographs	⇧
	Subseries: World War II
Box   4 Folder   1	Army Administration School [8] , 1943
Box   4 Folder   2	Basic training [5] , 1943
Box   4 Folder   3-26	Italy [125] , 1944-1945
Box   4 Folder   27-28	5th Army choir [9] , 1944-1945
Box   4 Folder   29-31	Caserta [13] , 1944
Box   4 Folder   32-33	Leaving for U.S. [9] , 1945
Box   4 Folder   34-36	Spaghetti Bowl [15] , 1944
Box   4 Folder   37-39	North Africa [15] , 1943
Box   4 Folder   40	Stateside [2] , 1945
	Subseries: Greece	⇧
Box   4 Folder   41-48	Candids [38] , circa 1948
Box   5 Folder   1	Landmarks [6] , circa 1947
Box   5 Folder   2-4	Scenery [12] , circa 1948
	Trips
Box   5 Folder   5	Europe [4] , 1948
Box   5 Folder   6-7	Istanbul [9] , 1948
Box   5 Folder   8	London [4] , 1948
	Subseries: Veteran Activities	⇧
	5th Army trip to Italy
	American battlefield cemeteries
Box   5 Folder   9-10	Florence [11] , 2001
Box   5 Folder   11-12	Nettuno [10] , 2001
Box   5 Folder   13	Anzio [4] , 2001
Box   5 Folder   14	Dinner with Italian general [6] , 2001
Box   5 Folder   15	Farewell dinner [3] , 2001
Box   5 Folder   16	Group shot [1] , 2001
Box   5 Folder   17-18	Monte Cassino [9] , 2001
Box   5 Folder   19	World War I ruins [3] , 2001
Box   5 Folder   20-21	Reynold B. Hall [11] , circa 1945
Box   5 Folder   22-23	Women's Army Corps Museum [10] , 1996