They heeded the call to serve

[ Originally published on: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 ]

SHELBURNE FALLS -- When the U.S. Marines decided to make Georgette Devine of Conway an aviation mechanic, she had no mechanical background whatsoever.

'My family didn't even own a car,' she recalls.

But it was 1944, in the midst of World War II, and Devine, 21, wanted to enlist.

When asked why, she replies with a laugh: 'Out of boredom -- but a little patriotism thrown in.'

She is one of several women veterans who will talk about their military service in different eras tonight at 7 p.m. at the Shelburne-Buckland Community Center on Main Street.

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