SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — San Diego World War II veteran Gena Fischle has been invited to witness a historic ceremony in Washington D.C.
June 1, Admiral Linda Fagan will not only become the first woman to lead the Coast Guard, but any military branch. Other female “firsts” have been invited to witness the change of the command, Fischle included.
Fischle remembers getting the letter inviting her to the ceremony.
“That they had the wrong number… surely they could’ve had somebody else written down,” she said, thinking they had made a mistake.
She made history herself though, one of the many women who stepped up during World War II. She joined the Coast Guard in 1944 and spent 2.5 years in the military, saying she would have stayed in longer but women were told their services were no longer needed after the war.
“I’m proud to be an American first, and I truly mean it,” she said.
