Terese Yetzbacher lost her father when she was 9.
Bill Yetzbacher, a World War II veteran, returned home to run Yetzbacher Liquor Store in downtown Iola.
He?d been injured during the war, shot in the Battle of Luzon while fighting in the Philippines, and still carried a bit of shrapnel in his body. He also suffered from high blood pressure afterward, which Yetzbacher believes led to his premature death of a heart attack while undergoing a dental procedure.
One bit of advice Yetzbacher?s father gave her struck a chord.
?He told me as a young kid ? and of course he had no idea what I was going to be at that age ? that if anything comes up, the Army will take care of you,? Yetzbacher recalled.
So it was that after high school, Yetzbacher followed what she thought was a traditional route for young women her age. A 1968 Iola High School graduate, she went on to attend what then was Allen County Community Junior College, then moved on to Pittsburg State University until her grandmother fell ill. Yetzbacher?s mother, Hazel ? who ran the Beauty Spot in Iola for 60 years ? asked Terese to return home to help keep things running.
She did so, working for a spell at the IMP boat plant, Pet Milk, Miller?s dress factory and International Press.
But it was evident Yetzbacher yearned for more.
So she and a friend enlisted in the Women?s Army Corps in April 1973. (Her friend wound up being turned away; Yetzbacher was shipped off to basic training in Fort Jackson, S.C.)
She joined the Women?s Army Corps while it was in transition. Up until then, most women joining the military were given one of two assignments: become a secretary or take up nursing.
But by 1973, other avenues had opened, such as auto mechanics, logistics and the military police.
?I went in as an MP,? she laughed. ?I figured I?d been in enough trouble in this town, so I?d better try the other side.?
As an MP in the Women?s Army Corps, Yetzbacher was assigned to a number of undercover sting operations, usually to snuff out thieves helping themselves to inventory at post exchanges.
