WWII Women’s Army Corps Veteran Lieutenant Colonel Harriet West-Waddy Honored

A special memorial service was held at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery on May 24, at 10:40 AM in the chapel for Harriet West-Waddy.

West-Waddy enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps in July 1942 and entered the WAC officer candidate school at Fort Des Moines.

She was one of only two African-American women to attain the rank of Major in the WACs during World War II. Once promoted to that rank and named an aide to WAC Director Colonel Oveta Cult Hobby, West-Waddy was able to take an active role in changing the status of women of color in the military.

She became an advisor to the Army on racial issues to provide a voice for and to spotlight inequality in the Armed Forces. West-Waddy recruited black women into the Army. Her assignment included gathering information from black women in WAC installations across America about their treatment for a report sent to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

West-Waddy was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1948. She retired from the armed forces in 1952 and was in the reserves until 1969. West-Waddy also worked closely with Mary McLeod Bethane in multiple Civil Rights campaigns.

West-Waddy was married four times and had no children or no surviving close relatives when she died. She was buried at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. There was no funeral service at the time of her interment, until the May 24, 2019 special memorial service held in her honor.