EAST KINGSTON — Carolyn Timbie sat in her home holding a century-old, familial artifact straight out of the history books – a Brodie combat helmet.
Millions of these steel and leather-bound helmets were issued to WWI soldiers to protect them in trench warfare.
The war-torn helmet belonged to her grandmother, Grace Banker, who served as chief operator for the U.S. Army Signal Corps in WWI in France and Germany.
Banker and the women who operated the telephone switchboards were known as the Hello Girls. They were recruited for their bilingual capabilities to calmly and hastily transmit messages – often military coded ones – to French and U.S. officers deep in the trenches.
As the war progressed, the women took up office in military headquarters only a few miles from the front lines of some of the bloodiest battles, putting their own lives at risk as millions were killed over the course of WWI.
Timbie, of East Kingston, has been a driving force for her grandmother and the rest of the Hello Girls to be recognized for their service to the United States. She is advocating for a bill, the third time around, for them to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest honor for civilians.
“They were trailblazers,” Timbie said. “As I learn more about the women, their courage and their contributions I feel like we as Americans have missed out. We deserve to have them recognized for their significant contributions and we are going for the gold.”
There were 223 Hello Girls in the Signal Corps who went overseas and followed General John Pershing’s First Army. At 25 years old, Banker supervised 32 other women who made up the first unit sent to France. As the war went on, a select group of the women were moved to an advanced section closer to the front and issued gas masks and helmets like Banker’s as casualties mounted on both sides with new technological advances and military warfare not seen before.
Inscriptions line the inside rim of Banker’s helmet, scratched in pencil detailing where she was stationed during the war and after – from March 1918 to September 1919. She etched “Paris,” “Souilly” and “Ligny-en-Barrois” as she chronicled both her war story and that of her fellow Hello Girls.
“It’s very personal,” Timbie said.
The Hello Girls are regarded as America’s first women soldiers, but they returned home from war as civilians without veteran status.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter granted veteran benefits to the remaining, living Hello Girls after a six-decade struggle for that status. Banker individually received the Distinguished Service Medal in 1919 while in Coblenz, Germany for her service and “devoted duties in trying conditions” during the Battles of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne.
But Timbie is working to have the women recognized collectively.
“We need to remember these women for what they did,” Timbie said. “They are a pivotal piece of our history.”
She’s one of a few Hello Girls’ descendants and other advocates trying to gain Senate and House of Representatives support for gold medal recognition for the Hello girls over the last several years. Bills were proposed in 2019 and 2021 for the same purpose, but did not have enough traction.
This new bill, The Hello Girls Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2023, has the support of 43 senators and 77 representatives. The bill needs approval from two-thirds of the Senate, 67 signatures, as well as 277 from the House of Representatives.
U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Sheehan signed the bill. It also received backing from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Hassan said Timbie’s grandmother and all of the Hello Girls are American heroes who deserve and have earned the recognition for their service and dedication to their country.
“Carolyn’s tireless advocacy for these women has been critical as we work to honor the Hello Girls with the Congressional Gold Medal for their service,” Hassan said.
Timbie is optimistic this could finally be the year. This time around, they have the support of the WWI Centennial Commission and have engaged in outreach and panel discussions on the subject.
The cause is near to Timbie’s heart as it’s a direct lifeline to her grandmother, who died in 1960, three years before she was born. She’s spent the last several years researching the Signal Corps and going through her grandmother’s war artifacts to better understand the sacrifice Banker and the Hello Girls made during WWI.
Her grandmother’s artifacts help tell the story of these women, she said. Her uniform, gas mask, dog tags, diary and a mess kit paint a picture of women respected as equals in the war who weren’t even allowed to vote.
For Timbie, Banker’s mess kit symbolizes the value of the “Hello Girls” in the war effort.
“When they were on the front lines, eating with the officers on wooden-plank tables in the barracks, they were right there with the men and working together,” she said.
These women served like the Doughboys, were subjected to rising influenza like the men, but didn’t receive the same acknowledgment for their role in history.
Timbie said she hopes people hearing the Hello Girls’ story and seeing her grandmother’s artifacts will inspire others to write letters to their senators and representatives and get the bill passed this year.
“I think we have a good chance as there’s more attention being given to the cause,” Timbie said. “We’ve made headway each year on it and are gaining momentum.”
“These are real women from over 100 years ago,” she added. “They were the first of the first. Some even died while in service, but they weren’t recognized as soldiers. They deserve it.”