We got the sad news that 101 year-old World War II veteran, Emma Eliza Ball Pogge has passed in Lawrence, Kanasas. From an interview in the Lawrence Journal two years ago;
“Everybody seemed to have boys (in their families), but my mother had five girls” Pogge said. “And so I put my name on the list, and we had somebody in the service.”
A coal miner’s daughter with four sisters, Pogge was sent for training in Colorado, where she served as a typing clerk.
During her time there Pogge maintained her Methodist faith at the on-base chapel and started a choir. She would do stints during the next couple of years at multiple bases across the country, including Iowa, Pennsylvania and Maryland, singing in every chapel along the way.
A table scrapbook from those years contains several black-and-white shots of a younger Pogge, with dark hair and a shy smile.
Rest in peace, Emma.
RIP, Mrs. Poggee!
RIP Miss Emma.
In case anyone is wondering why the AF rank, she stayed in service after WW II. She was in service when the USAF became a separate branch in 1947. Consequently, her lifetime saw both the formation of the Air Service and the modern Air Force. She was born the same year as Charles Lindbergh (1902) and was a mere kid of 67 when we put a man on the moon.
2/17 Air Cav…Here-Here. What an honor to have you in our service Emma. Thank you for all you gave ma’am.
CORRECTION. I seem not to be able to distinguish between 1902 and 1912.
Enjoy your rest, Sister, you earned it. See you in a while …
Emma, you are really something!!
God Bless dear sweet lady.
Rest in peace, SGT Pogge. You’ve earned it.
Prayers up, maam. Rest easy.
Wow. Just an amazing woman. RIP, Ma’am.
Rest well, Sergeant.
I’m happy to say that I’ve known this lady and looked forward to seeing her in Branson every November for Veterans week.
Thank you for your service, sister. Rest in peace.
May God welcome her into His halls.
We’re losing the Greatest Generation at an alarming rate. Soon, there won’t be any left.
Rest in peace, ma’am.
I look forward to meeting her in the afterlife. I have no doubt she has some amazing life stories to share.
R.I.P. Ma’am.
Rest in peace knowing we are grateful for your service.
Question: just what makes a person a veteran of a specific war or incident? We see a lot of postings here about people claiming to be a vets of different wars, even though they did serve (if at a all) in any of the right theaters. Using our own standard, is it right to call her a WWII “Vet” when she only served stateside during the war? Or is a person still considered a vet if they were in the theater 2 years later? To me, I think it more appropriate to call her a WWII era vet.