#VeteranOfTheDay Women’s Army Corps Veteran Mary Louise Palmore Paden

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Women’s Army Corps Veteran Mary Louise Palmore Paden. Mary Lou served during World War II.

Mary Lou was a corporal in the Women’s Army Corps and served with Squadron D of the 330^th Army Air Force. She completed basic training at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia and was later posted at Mather Field, California, and Roswell Air Base, New Mexico. Mary Lou was a real-life Rosie the Riveter whose technical school training as a sheet metalist made her the perfect candidate for restoring B-25 bombers damaged overseas. She also helped maintain B-17s and B-29s. She even got to ride in the Enola Gay, the B-29 plane that dropped the first atomic bomb.

After the war, she married husband John D. Paden in 1946 and they later settled in Texas where Mary Lou became a founding member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1890 Auxiliary and was also an active member of the Arden Hanes Post 351 American Legion, speaking in schools about WWII and the importance of patriotism. Mary Lou passed away on Apr. 13, 2010 at the age of 86.

We honor her service.

More of her story can be found at http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.32770/.

Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? You’re in luck! VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

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/.

Graphic created by Dominique Ramirez: Dominique is a member of VA’s Digital Media Engagement team. He manages multiple pages across the VA.gov domain, including the VAntage Point blog. He also creates graphics for VA’s social media channels.