Madeline Buchek

 

It isn’t likely that Madeline Buchek will forget the pride she had while serving as a telephone switchboard operator in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.

The Greensburg resident recalled the feeling while sitting in her home this week, just days before she celebrated her 103rd birthday with family and friends.

“I enjoyed it to the point where I was proud of it, that I was able to do this for the boys,” said Buchek, who grew up in Hostetter.

Buchek enlisted in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in 1943, almost a year after the unit was established as a way to relieve men of their work so they could go serve in the war. After completing basic training at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Buchek, then in her 20s, was stationed in Columbia, S.C., where she remained throughout the war.

At her posting, Buchek worked as a PBX operator, a role she learned during the start of her career at Bell Telephone Co. in Greensburg. Buchek worked alongside another woman while men learned to fly airplanes to fight in the war. In all, nine women were trained at the post and alternated shifts that would last through the night.

“It was wonderful,” Buchek said. “I knew the assignment, which helped me. The other girls had to be trained, and they were kind of dubious about doing the job, but after training and after using the boards they became acquainted with it, and then they enjoyed it.”

Joining the Marines

Buchek was only a few years into her career as a telephone switchboard operator — a path she chose after graduating from Greater Latrobe Senior High School in 1937 — when the war began.

Following in the footsteps of friends and colleagues, Buchek decided to enlist in the Marines.

“We were all from Bell Telephone from Greensburg,” she said. “We were all assigned different areas. What they did, I don’t know, because I couldn’t get in touch with them. I didn’t know where they were.”

Buchek was the only one of her friends to be stationed in South Carolina, where she lived in a former Civilian Conservation Corps barracks. The CCC was a work relief program established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 that gave millions of men employment during the Great Depression.

According to Buchek’s nephew, Rick Labuda, the barracks did not have plumbing or heating. So women stationed at the camp would have to gather wood and coal to fill potbellied stoves at night. Bathrooms and showers were in a separate building away from the barracks, he said.

“At night we were so cold we would get bricks and heat them up to keep our feet warm. … We had to create our own heat,” Buchek said. “We had to put coal in the belly of the potbelly stoves, so it was kind of hard.”

When Buchek wasn’t working, she would go for bike rides and do various things on the base, such as watch the men learning to take off and land planes. Buchek was one of the few women with a driver’s license, which she received when she was 19. If an extra vehicle was available, she would drive herself and other women to work.

Buchek remained at her post until the war ended in 1945.

“Of course, when the war was over, we were all happy,” she said. “It was really a joyous time when they said the war is over and everyone took action to go home.”

After the war ended, Buchek returned to her position with Bell Telephone, where she was promoted to service adviser. In her role, she would visited companies across Western Pennsylvania that had Bell Telephone switchboards and ensure they knew how to operate the board and provide them with supplies.

Buchek remained in her position until 1979, when she left her job at Bell Telephone. She moved to Las Vegas to help her sister, Mary Jane Gritzer, who was diagnosed with cancer. Buchek remained there, working in the gift wrapping department of Bullock’s department store, until she was 88 years old.

At that point she moved back to Greensburg, where several of her nieces live.

Turning 103

Over the years, Buchek has been recognized several times for her service during World War II.

On her 95th birthday in 2013, she received a letter from James F. Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, wishing her a happy birthday and thanking her for her service.

“It is an honor and a pleasure to join your family, friends and brothers- and sisters-in-arms in congratulating you on 95 years,” Amos wrote. “On behalf of all Marines, I extend deepest gratitude for your service and fidelity.”

In addition, Buchek was also presented with an American flag that once flew over the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., along with a letter from Robert Pittenger, a former North Carolina state representative. Similar to Amos, Pittenger thanked Buchek for her service and wished her a happy 95th birthday.

Both letters, which are now framed, along with the flag are neatly placed throughout her home along with photographs of her in uniform. A small clock, a gift from Bell Telephone, also sits in her living room, a nod to her years of military service and work she completed across the region.

Family and friends will gather Saturday to celebrate her accomplishments and her birthday.

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