PVT Mary C. Gilmore
Born: January 28, 1919, Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado, USA
Death: November 12, 1998, Silver City, New Mexico, USA
Burial Site: FBNC, Section A, Row J, Site 21
Mary C. Gilmore, formerly known as Mary Katherine Castaldi, was a dedicated homemaker and a World War II veteran who served in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) as a Private. She enlisted on February 3, 1944, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the age of 25.[i] It is worth noting that members of the WAC were the first women, aside from nurses, to serve within the ranks of the United States Army.[ii]
Mary was the daughter of Italian immigrants, with Joe Castaldi as her father and Catarina Frisa as her mother. She was married to Afton N. Gilmore, a US Air Force Staff Sergeant (SSGT). Together, they had two children, Sharon and Richard. She died at the age of 79 in Silver City, New Mexico.[iii]
Images & Documents
Gilmore’s headstone and her husband’s Afton at Ft. Bayard National Cemetery
Mary and her husband Afton Gilmore
Wedding Day of Julia Castaldi and Frank Gruda. Mary Castaldi next to Frank, to the right
Mary (right) and her sister Julia (left) as kids
The Castaldi family, Mary (3) to the right, Julia (5) to the left, and their parents Joe and Catarina
Notes:
Compiled by Gladys Zubiría, Rice University
Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Legacy Memorial, Find Your Veteran
https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/MARYCGILMORE/00612F6
[i] National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 00171; Reel: 17.
[ii] THE WOMEN’S ARMY CORPS: A COMMEMORATION OF WORLD WAR II SERVICE By Judith A. Bellafaire, CMH Publication 72-15. Retrieved from: https://www.history.army.mil/brochures/WAC/WAC.HTM.
[iii] El Paso Times. 13 Nov 1998, Fri · Page 14.