OSAGE GIRL ON TOUR WITH BAND
Pvt Janette Coonradt Plays Bass Clarinet
Camp Lejuene, North Carolina -- Pvt Janette Lillian Coonradt, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Coonradt, Osage, Iowa, is one of the 45 members of the marine corps women's reserve band here, which is now on a 6 weeks tour which will include east coast marine bases and Chicago.
The band, which was organized in November, 1943, and trained by members of the famed Washington, D.C. marine band, is the only official women's reserve and. It has made appearances in nearby cities but has never before gone on tour.
Pvt. Coonradt, who plays the bass clarinet, is a graduate of Osage high school. She attended the University of Dubuque for 2 years. She was first in the national bass clarinet solo contest for 1940 and 1942.
Her brother, Glen, was killed in action fighting with the marines. Pvt. Coonradt enlisted in the marines March 15, 1944.
Source: Mason City Globe-Gazette, November 24, 1944 (photo included)
Janette Lillian Coonradt Dieterich was born Feb. 26, 1924 to Lloyd William and Tillie McKenna Coonradt. She died Mar. 8, 1997 and is buried in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Saint Ansgar, IA.
Cpl. Coonradt served in World War II with the U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Reserve Band. She was married to Arnold Elmer Dieterich. Cpl. Arnold Dietrich also served in World War II with the U.S. Marine Corps 6th Marine Division, 22nd Regiment, 3rd Battalion.
Source: ancestry.com
