Community Corner

Ellisville World War II Vet Receives "Honor Flight" to D.C.

Doris Amison, 91, was flown by the non-profit organization Honor Flight to Washington D.C. to visit the National World War II Memorial.

An Ellisville World War II veteran recently had the chance to visit the National World War II memorial in Washington D.C. through the non-profit organization Honor Flight.

Doris Amison, 91, served as a payroll specialist for the Navy during World War II after enlisting in 1943. She was born in 1921 in St. Paul, Minn., and explained how she began her career in the military in a press release provided by Honor Flight.

“I worked as a file clerk in the Investors Syndicate Building in Minneapolis and the Navy recruiting office was in that building so I passed it every day,” she explained. “One day I passed the office and said to myself, ‘I think I’ll join the Navy,’ and that’s what I did.”

Find out what's happening in Ballwin-Ellisvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Amison traveled to Washington, D.C., to see the memorial with one of her three daughters, Senior Master Sgt. Mary-Dale Amison, who serves with the 131st Bomb Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard at Lambert Field in St. Louis.

Amison said seeing the memorial reminded her of part of what made World War II such a significant event in America’s history.

Find out what's happening in Ballwin-Ellisvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I like the way the designers included a column for every state, even Alaska and Hawaii, because everyone got involved in the war effort,” she said. “The government led the way for the people of the country to get involved, the housewives, the children, everybody supported the war. That’s what the memorial represents to me.”

The Amison’s are a military family, according to the press release. Like many American families during World War II, the Amisons did what they could to help the war effort and made sacrifices. Doris’ mother worked as a Red Cross volunteer; her father as an air raid warden, and her brother, Bill, flew B-24 and B-29 bombers for the Army Air Corps in North Africa and the Marianas Island. Donald Amison, the man who would become Doris’s husband, served as motor machinists mate in the submarine service. In addition, Doris’ father served in the Army during World War I and by sheer coincidence served the exact same number of days as Doris did in the Navy.

Doris married Don Amison in 1945 and the couple had three daughters, Diane, Donna and Mary-Dale. The family lived in Minnesota and then Rhode Island, where Doris again joined the military, serving as a sergeant in the Rhode Island Army National Guard. A year after Don’s passing in 1972; Doris moved the family to St. Louis, where she continued her education, earning college degrees in business administration, elementary education and adult education. Today she lives in a retirement community and boasts two grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

About Honor Flight:

The nonprofit Honor Flight Network provides military veterans with free transportation to Washington so they might visit the memorials to conflicts in which they were involved. The Network gives priority to the nation’s oldest veterans and those with terminal illnesses.

For more information about the Missouri National Guard, please visit www.moguard.com.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Ballwin-Ellisville