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.
