Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay are Navy Veteran Thomas Joyce and Army Veteran Elaine Joyce, who met and were married while serving in World War II.
Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is a special Valentines Day story honoring Army Veteran Elaine N. Joyce and Navy Veteran Thomas F. Joyce. The Joyces served during World War II from 1945 to 1946 and from 1943 to 1947, respectively.
Thomas Joyce was born in Miller, South Dakota, in July 1923. An encounter with a flight simulator brought by a Navy recruiter and conversations with his uncle, a World War I pilot, piqued his interest in flying. Thomas joined the Navy to become an aviator in March 1943, and he learned how to fly many different aircraft, such as Wildcats and Corsairs, as well as how to navigate using the stars.
Elaine Joyce was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, in September 1923. She began training as a nurse a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor and joined the Army Nurse Corps as soon as she received her certification. When she enlisted in May 1945, the war with Germany had just recently ended.
Elaine went to Fort Devens for basic training. At the Picadilly Inn, she and her group of Army nurses met a group of Navy pilots, Thomas among them. There were “Blue Laws” in place which prohibited dancing before 8 p.m., but when dancing time hit, Thomas approached Elaine and asked her, “Would the Army care to dance with the Navy?” She agreed. Afterward, Thomas took Elaine home in a taxi. When the taxi driver refused to drive any farther, citing that he was not allowed to proceed further into the nurses’ quarters, Thomas walked Elaine all the way back to her barracks. The two grew close and later married at Alameda Naval Air Station in California on Aug. 17, 1946.
The Joyces’ time together during the war was limited, and after her training, Elaine boarded a hospital ship headed for the Pacific. During her service there, she once flew in a P-38 aircraft. Afterward, she worked at Dibble General Hospital in California. She was discharged in 1946. Soon after, following the passing of the Joyces’ twin sons, Patrick and Michael, Thomas made the decision to be transferred from active duty to the reserve.
The Joyces each utilized the G.I. Bill to go to college. Thomas attended Santa Clara University and earned a degree in commerce in 1953. He proceeded to work in the data processing and computer fields with NCR, IBM, Raychem, and several county governments, with his career focusing mainly on sales and management. Elaine, on the other hand, attended San Jose State University. She served as president of the National Association of Catholic Nurses, as an intensive care unit supervisor at Sequoia Hospital and as an ICU and recovery room nurse at Watsonville Community Hospital. During these years, the Joyces had seven children together: John, Maureen, Tif, Sheila, Teresa, Veronica, and George.
After retiring, the Joyces traveled extensively, seeing the country, before settling in Cazadero, California, and later moving to just outside Freestone, California, to be closer to family.
Thomas died in 2015; Elaine died in 2021. More of their stories can be found at http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.84411/ and http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.84412/.
We honor their service.
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Veterans History Project
This #VeteranOfTheDay profile was created with interviews submitted to the Veterans History Project. The project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Find out more at http://www.loc.gov/vets/.
Writer: Savannah Labbe
Editors: Taryn Gehman, Cynthia Xu
Researchers: Jordan Gossett, Tavia Wager, Loretta Knieff
Graphic Designer: Nikki Lumbre, Tenzin Chomphel, Kiki Kelley
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thank you for that wonderful Valentine’s day story…. so nice.
People don’t proofread anymore. It should say Thomas “learned how to fly many different aircraft” not “earned how to fly many different aircraft”.
Great catch, Conrad! I went ahead and fixed it. Thanks!