by Jill Funke

Today, with a count of over two hundred thousand females, women in the military are commonplace. But when Betty Smith of Larchwood was young, this was not the case. Working at Shrivers in Sioux Falls, she became acquainted with a woman whose husband was in the Naval Guard. Betty spent a lot of time with them and one night when they were all together, he invited her to a naval meeting. Betty says that she agreed to go and before she knew it, she had joined the reserves. While she was enlisted, she went to a party one night and was talking to a man who kidded her about being in the reserves and what she would do if she had to go into active duty. Feeling very confident, Betty told him she wasn’t worried as they couldn’t make her go if she didn’t want to. Yet within two days, she received orders that sent her to Maryland, and Betty says that she cried all the way there. She kept thinking to herself, "What am I doing here?" About her time in the military, Betty says that it was all quite a change but in the long run very good for her. For a while, she was the only woman in her company and laughs when she remembers how those in charge didn’t quite know what to do with her. On meeting nights when the men would all assemble, there was little for Betty to do, so they would put her in an office where she shuffled papers to appear busy.

When she reached the level of section leader, she had her choice of what she wanted to do and she decided to attend the hospital corps school. Upon the completion of hospital corps school, Betty had her choice of duty station and she chose the Great Lakes Naval Hospital so that she could remain close to her family and home. While there, she was in the cafeteria one day and an Army man from Fort Sheridan, Illinois kept looking at her. He was a patient in a different ward than the one Betty worked. One of his friends came over to talk to Betty and told her that Charles (Bud) Smith wanted to take her out but was too shy to ask her himself. Betty answered yes even though she knew that dating patients was something that the military discouraged. The two dated for a while and Bud got serious right away, but Betty took a little longer. One night, after dating for about three months, Betty was on duty when Bud came up to the barracks with an engagement ring. Betty says that she nearly fell over, but when Bud told her that he knew she was the one from the beginning, she told him she would marry him.

Bud and Betty got their license, and one morning they decided it was a great day to get married. The couple went to the Justice of the Peace and tied the knot that day. Since their family wasn’t able to be there, the couple renewed their vows in church twenty-five years later. After their marriage, Betty left the military and Bud was transferred to Fort Carson, Colorado. He was also transferred to Virginia and Kentucky, staying about one to two years between transfers. At one point, Betty decided that she would go back to school and she earned her LPN certification. Then, wherever they happened to be stationed, Betty got a job as a nurse. When Bud was ordered to Germany, Betty deliberated about the move for quite a while before finally decided that she would go, too. She already knew enough German to be able to effectively communicate, and made many friends from Bud’s company. Overall, they both enjoyed their time in Germany very much.

Finally, when Bud was stationed in Alabama, he came home one night and announced that he had completed the paperwork for his retirement. The couple moved to Rockford, Illinois to be close to Bud’s family. Ultimately, it came time to move back to Larchwood where Betty grew up, and she was excited as she had been back very little since she was young. Betty continued to work in nursing, taking a job in Sioux Falls for a while. While she was glad to be home, Betty admits that she was never very fond of the cold weather found in the Midwest. Currently, she and Bud live with their dog, Sarge, and two cats. They are looking forward to the celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary at the Larchwood Community Center from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on February 4th.