Cpl. Evelyn Heer, 23, daughter, WAC radio operator with the army air forces at Mitchell Field, Long Island.
Mother Joins WAC, Son Joins Navy, Making Five Members of Heer Family in Service
Another Son prisoner of Japs; Husband in Army in Iran; Daughter also in WAC.
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Evelyn, who was employed by the Chamberlain corporation, quit her job in September, 1942, to join the WAC. She had studied radio through national youth administration classes in Waterloo ad was therefore given further training along this line and classified as a radio technician.
Source: The Courier (Waterloo, IA) August 6, 1943 (photo included)
70 Pct. Of Iowa WACs From Fighting Families
A survey of approximately 70 per cent of the total Iowa WAC enlistment reveals its close integration with the war effort through service of members overseas and in this county, and through other members of their families.
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A 100 per cent war service family is that of the Earl Heers, Cedar Falls. The five members are: Pvt. Bessie E. Heer, the mother, and Corp. Evelyn V. Heer, the daughter, in the WAC; Pvt. (f.c.) Earl O. Heer, the father, overseas; Pvt. Robert S. Heer, a Japanese prisoner; and James Heer, in the navy.
Source: Des Moines Register, December 5, 1943
Corporal Heer in 'Invasion"
WAC Cpl. Evelyn Heer (center), 133 Falls Avenue, Waterloo, helped conduct a different kind of 'invasion' recently at Mitchell field, N.Y., when eight WACs moved into the radio station of the army airways communications system to relieve eight soldiers for overseas duty. At left is Cpl. Doris M. Beaber, New York City; right, Pvt. Minnie L. Wessel, Belmond, Ia.
Source: The Courier, (Waterloo IA) January 23, 1944 (photo included)
PROUD OF HIS FAMILY
A patient of Halloran General hospital, Staten Island, N.Y., where he was sent after serving in Persia with the quartermaster corps, Pvt. (f.c.) Earl Heer of Waterloo, Ia., is proud of his patriotic family. His daughter, Corp Evelyn Heer, shown here, is a WAC stationed at Mitchell Field, N,Y. His wife, Bessie is a WAVE private; one son, Robert, is a prisoner of war of the Japs after his capture in the Philippines, and another son, James Heer, seaman, first class, is serving in the Pacific.
Source: Des Moines Tribune, March 6, 1944 (photo included)
Where Are Those GI Janes Since They've Again Become Civilians?
What has happened to those Waterloo girls who looked so smart in Wave, Wac or Spar uniforms, traveled the country and the world and the were discharged from service to return to civilian life?
Well, many of them were married while in the service and have settled in other states or brought their husbands to Waterloo to live. Still others entered new fields of work and have gone on to college through the benefits of education provision of the GI bill of rights.
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Miss Evelyn Heer and her mother, Mrs. Earl Heer, 133 Falls avenue, were both in the Wacs, Mrs. Heer has returned to her housekeeping but her daughter is taking a business course in Atlanta, Ga. Her decision to attend the business college in the faraway state was due to a close friendship with a Georgia girl she met while in the service.
Source: The Courier, Waterloo IA - Sunday, March 9, 1947
