November 7, 2011 - Royal Cape Cod Women Vets Friends for Life

By Scott Wahle

Buzzards Bay - When Anita Alence and Millie Feist talk over old times, they’ve got plenty of old times to talk over. The two women, roommates at Royal Cape Cod Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Buzzards Bay, share almost 70 years of friendship, but they share more than that: each has proudly worn the uniform as a member of the U.S. armed forces.

Brooklyn-born Anita, 90, was a Marine Corps pioneer, enlisting in 1942 at the height of World War II with the very first class of women Marines, and she made it her career for the next 30 years. And Millie, 94, a native of Somerville, joined the Navy in 1943, serving 4 years as a chief specialist.

Millie’s father had been a Navy man in World War I along with his four brothers, so she knew all about that branch of the service. But why enlist?

“I wanted to get in there and do something to better the world,” says Millie.

And Anita?

“To help the country.”

There were relatively few women in the armed forces at that time, and they served mainly behind the scenes, but their service was important nonetheless. Millie was in charge of 100 young women who filled many different roles during the war.

“We were typists, office workers, we painted the airplanes – all kinds of jobs.”

Anita’s rank was Master Sergeant, and her duties took her to several Marine bases during her career, including a stint at the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo. The two women met in Washington during the war and kept in touch in the years that followed. Neither married - (“We had our opportunities!” says Millie) – and after the death of Millie’s parents left her with no living relatives, she called Anita with an offer to live together.

That was over 40 years ago. Why do they get along so well?

“I don’t know!” says Millie with a chuckle. “She’s just the salt of the earth.”

“She’s just great,” says Anita.

Royal Cape Cod’s executive director Peter LeBrun is proud that one of the first women Marines in history calls his facility home.

“But it’s not just Anita and Millie; it’s all the veterans at all our Royal facilities and elsewhere who have served our country. We honor them on Veteran’s Day, and every day.”

The two women, who’ve lived at Royal Cape Cod now for five and a half years, share many interests (including “clean jokes,” according to Millie), and they, too, are proud of their military service.

“I don’t think there’s anything greater than this country,” says Millie. “I was brought up this way. We have to back our country – that’s the main thing. We have to stand up for our rights. When I think of all the men who gave their lives for our freedom....” And Millie’s voice trailed off.

So which branch of the service is the best – the Marines or the Navy?

“They’re both good,” says Marine Master Sergeant Anita Alence.

“They built this country,” says Navy Chief Specialist Millie Feist.