Mattie Pinette (1903–1999) graduated from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...

and worked as a secretary for the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

and the Civil Aeronautics Administration in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. In 1942 she joined the

Women's Army Corps (United States Army) The Women's Army Corps (WAC) was the women's branch of the United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) on 15 May 1942 and converted to an active duty status in the Army of the United States ...

(WAC) and was assigned to Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. On her way to Africa the British troop ship on which she was sailing, the Strathalan, was torpedoed by a German submarine. Pinette and several other WACs spent ten hours in a lifeboat before being rescued. At AFHQ Pinette worked for

Robert McClure Vice-Admiral Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure (28 January 1807 – 17 October 1873) was an Irish explorer of Scots descent who explored the Arctic. In 1854 he traversed the Northwest Passage by boat and sledge, and was the first to ci ...

, head of the psychological warfare office, and also assisted the U.S. delegation to the

Casablanca Conference The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were ...

. She was later assigned to the personal staff of

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

and served as one of his secretaries in England.Kenneth S. Davis. Soldier ''of Democracy: A Biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower''. New York, Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc. 1945. p. 467 She was present at his headquarters on D-Day and compiled a detailed account of the events surrounding the invasion. After the liberation of France, Pinette, who was fluent in French, was assigned to the staff of Major General John Taylor Lewis, who was head of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) mission to the French government. After the end of the war she traveled to Palestine and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

with U.S. diplomats to study local conditions. In 1946 she resigned from the Army and became a personnel officer at the

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President ...

, from which she retired in 1964. In later years she was active in the American Association of University Women.

References

External links

Papers of George Hall (Biographer of Mattie Pinnette), Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinnette, Mattie 1903 births 1999 deaths American women in politics University of Maine alumni Women's Army Corps soldiers