Submitted by Lt. Col. Maella Blalock, USA (Ret), of the Four State (Mo.) Chapter

To the members of the Four State (Mo.) Chapter, former Army 1st Lt. Helen Hubbard is a hero.

The 100-year-old chapter member started her military career in 1945. Prior to that, she attended Kansas State Teachers College, graduating in 1941 with a degree in nutrition. She then became a home economics teacher, something she said she did not enjoy.

So when a magazine salesman came to the school and encouraged her to write to the American Dietetic Association (ADA) about serving in the military, she did just that. The ADA wrote back telling her she had to take three additional courses. After completing those and serving a one-year internship in dietetics at Fitzsimmons General Army Hospital in Aurora, Colo., she received her bars, something she said was “the best time of our lives.”

Hubbard went on to attend basic training at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., for the Women’s Army Corps. “You never forget your basic training,” she said. “There were some funny times.”

She remembers arriving there with her shiny new bars and all the soldiers walking around and not quite being sure of the salutes. She passed one NCO and returned his salute, and then realized something was wrong. She turned around, and they both laughed: He had saluted with the wrong hand!

“Once, we tried to take a taxi back to the officer’s transient barracks and the driver refused,” Hubbard recalled. “He couldn’t believe we belonged there. He took us to the hospital, and they got us a ride back to the barracks.” 

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Hubbard served as a dietitian in the Army Medical Corps at Crile Hospital in Cleveland and at Wakeman General Hospital at Camp Atterbury, Ind. She transferred to Percy Jones General Hospital in Battle Creek, Mich., and was discharged from there.

She enjoyed working in the wards with injured war veterans and remembers one special veteran, an amputee who was waiting for his prosthesis. “He would say, ‘When I get my new leg, we will go dancing.’ He was moved to a new ward, and I later saw him in the hall with his new prosthetic leg. He looked down at me — he was over 6 feet tall, and I’m, well, not very tall. He said, ‘I’m going to have to go ahead and get the other leg off,’” Hubbard said.

In 1949, she met and married the love of her life, a former Marine. She worked in a Jewish Hospital and the student dining hall in Stanford, Calif., before retiring in Missouri in 1985. She has two sons, five grandchildren, and one great-grandson. In 2004, her husband passed away.

Hubbard has continued to stay active in her community and is involved in many organizations, including the First Christian Church, the American Dietetic Association, the American Heart Association, the Nutrition Consultants for Nursing Homes, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.

A Life Member of MOAA, she also is past first vice president of the Four State Chapter and has organized numerous programs for the chapter, such as supporting Kids of Our Heroes Adventure Camp for children of fallen and wounded warriors. 

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Earlier this year, Hubbard received a special present for her 100th birthday. In addition to a large party, she was given tickets to one of the Kansas City Chiefs’ playoff games. She and her son attended and were told if the Chiefs win, they also would receive tickets for the next playoff game. The Chiefs won, and at the next game, Hubbard got to sit in the Gold Room and make a special appearance on the field as part of the pregame.

She said the fans cheered when they announced she was a veteran, but they really cheered when they said she was 100 years old. She also was featured in a local television commercial for the Chiefs where she opened her door to the local weatherman and yelled, “Let’s get this party started!”

“Helen livens any group,” said Lt. Cmdr. Wynne Krell, USCG (Ret), president of the Four State Chapter. “She’s still active in the chapter. She calls chapter members to check on them. And when we have a meeting, everyone wants to sit by her. She makes our meetings sparkle.”