Dolores Josephine Szymialis (nee Erickson)
Era: World War II
Military Branch: Army
SZYMIALIS, Delores Josephine (nee Erickson)
Dolores Josephine Erickson Szymialis was born on June 28th 1921 to Ingworth J. & Jane A. [Greiten] Erickson. She graduated from Proctor High School in Proctor, Minnesota.
Ms. Erickson enlisted for military service in 1942 during WWII. She was inducted in the U.S. Army on September 1st 1943 and assigned to the Women's Air Corps. (WAC). She was stationed at the Hanford Works in Washington state as the head teletype operator. She rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSGT).
WACs relayed orders to the field during combat. One of SGT Erickson's tasks was to relay the coded orders that resulted in the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, which ended World War II. She was honorably discharged on February 12th 1946.
After the war she returned home and married Edward Francis Szymialis on October 2nd 1946 and they started a family. Edward was a U.S. Navy Vet in WWII also. Delores earned an AA degree and worked for AT&T before and after the war.
Ms. Szymialis died on December 17th 1988 at 67 years of age in Duluth, Minnesota. She is buried at Oneota Cemetery in Duluth.
Source(s):
Albert J. Amatuzio Research Center | Veterans Memorial Hall (vets-hall.org)
Sheet 12B Census - US Federal 1930 - Fold3
SSGT Dolores Josephine Erickson Szymialis (1921-1988) - Find a Grave Memorial
U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 - Ancestry.com
