Join us for a special program co-sponsored by the Memorial Military Museum and the Bristol Historical Society.

For decades now, women have had a vital role in all branches of the US Military, but it was not always that way. When World War II began, women were accepted begrudgingly, if at all. When the Navy created the WAVES, the Army the WAACs, the Coast Guard the SPARS, and the Women Marines were established, it was to be for “only the duration plus six months.” Gradually, their varied skills and dedication to “doing their part” made them invaluable. We will salute some of our hometown young women who volunteered to leave Bristol and serve in places often far from home and often in traditional male jobs and duties.

The second half of the program will be a video introducing Michelena Masterbone, who was Bristol’s last surviving WWII Female Veteran. Members of the Memorial Military Museum visited this witty, articulate, adventuresome woman on September 9, 2024, to celebrate her 101st birthday in Walla Walla, WA. Over two days of video interviews, “Call Me Mickey” tirelessly shared stories of growing up in Bristol, her pride in being a WAVE and her time Camp Detrick, Maryland. The war time research being conducted there was “cloaked in the deepest wartime secrecy . . . matched only by the Manhattan Project.”

Bristol has rightfully honored our male veterans. Bristol has forgotten our female veterans. In the fall of 2024, the Memorial Military Museum established the Bristol Women in the Military Committee to honor Bristol’s female veterans, not documented or honored before in Bristol’s history, and for the first time their stories, from the Civil War nurses to the present, will be told. This is the first in a series of 6 programs that will showcase many of the 113 Bristol female WWII veterans.

Doors will open at 6:30. Additional parking is in the rear of the building and refreshments will be served. This program is free to members of BHS or the MMM or a suggested donation of $5 for nonmembers.