Stella Lavadie, 104-year-old WWII vet in New Mexico, receives national military honor

SANTA FE — Stella Lavadie sat on a chair inside her Santa Fe home looking through a scrapbook. On one page there were her World War II dog tags and discharge papers. On another was the cover of the Key Field News that read, “Japanese Surrender.”

“Memories. What can I say?” the 104-year-old said as her eyes scanned the pages. “When you have memories it seems like things flash before your eyes then (they’re) gone and it’s just a memory.”

Lavadie, who was a corporal in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II, was recognized as a Military Women’s Memorial Living Legend on Wednesday afternoon. She was the third person to receive the honor in the state, said Lisa Day, Military Women’s Memorial New Mexico ambassador.

The award goes to women who served honorably and made it to 100, Day said.

Lavadie’s son, Larry Lavadie, presented her with a medal.

“Just don’t choke me,” Stella Lavadie said before he put it around her neck. “I am really humbled and thankful and joyful... There’s so many adjectives I can’t remember them all.”

The Military Women’s Memorial, located in Washington, D.C., is the country’s only memorial dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of women’s service in the military.

“Her dedication and sacrifice exemplified the Women’s Army Corps’ mission — ‘free a man to fight’ — and helped lay the foundation for the expanded roles women now hold in every branch of the military,” Day said in a news release.

Judy Goering, a Women’s Veterans of New Mexico member and a former Air Force captain, said she was honored and “very emotional” as she watched Lavadie receive the medal.

People like Lavadie were “the ones that gave us a role model to follow,” Goerig said.

Inspired by an Uncle Sam poster

Stella Lavadie was born in Taos in 1921. She lived in southwest Wyoming before moving back to New Mexico, where she attended New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas.

In 1944, during a trip to Albuquerque, Lavadie said she saw an Uncle Sam poster that said, “We want you.” As she looked at the sign, Lavadie said she decided she would enlist as soon as the school year ended.

“(Over) 60 years ago, women of that generation did not enlist to fight,” she said. “We enlisted to free desk-bound men to serve in battle.”

Lavadie said her parents gave her a party and prayed for her as she made her way to basic training in Fort Des Moines in Iowa before being assigned to various Army bases across the country.

Lavadie worked in supplies and delivered orders for an adjutant general, said Elaine Lavadie, Stella Lavadie’s daughter.

One of Stella Lavadie’s assignments was as a personal affairs consultant, helping the men heading overseas to arrange their final wishes — just in case.

“There was a certain sadness in helping them prepare their personal matters pertaining to their family affairs,” she said.

Lavadie said one of her favorite things about being in the military was the marching, “because it was so beautiful.”

“I even like peeling potatoes,” she added.

When the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, Lavadie said while she was glad the war was over, she was sad to not see her friends anymore and “sad to see our young boys had to die, especially on D-Day.”

Lavadie was honorably discharged on Jan. 21, 1946.

Almost 80 years later, Lavadie continues to remember the war like it was yesterday.

As she looked through the scrapbook, Lavadie sang parts of the World War II-era song, “We’ll Meet Again,” that she said her friend Ruby Hart used to sing at the back porch of the barracks.

“We’ll meet again/We’ll meet again/Don’t know where/Don’t know when/But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day...”