Rose Puchalla, the daughter of Polish immigrants in Northeast Minneapolis, volunteered to serve in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1944 and became one of a handful of women who served overseas in World War II.
She never made it home.
Puchalla’s is one of the 116 names of Edison High School students on a plaque in the front corridor of the school, those who died for their country in the war. But soon she will have her own plaque — a project initiated and completed by students at the school.
On May 24, just before the Memorial Day weekend holiday, Puchalla’s memory and the plaque were honored in a special event at the school.
Ethan Hall, one of the students who organized the plaque creation, was the emcee of the memorial event.
“Just getting the wording right was a major challenge,” he told the 30 or so students who gathered for the event. “We knew that the words would be set in stone forever.”
Even the setting for the Puchalla event was historic. Room 219 at Edison was once a “Little Theater” created out of two classrooms as a student-led project in 1949. The room is now used to help students learn about colleges.
Those attending had to settle for paper copies of what the plaque would look like. The plaque itself is on order and will be installed before the next school year.
Puchalla was the youngest of five children and was brought up by a single mom who earned her living as a tailor. After the eighth grade, Puchalla left school to help support the family and eventually became a spot welder. She worked at Foley Company, formerly located at St. Anthony Pkwy. and 5th St. NE, which made canteens for the U.S. troops during the war.
She was a for-real Rosie the Riveter.
In 1944, Puchalla joined the WACs and after training was sent overseas to Ghana as part of the 1202nd Army Air Force Base Unit, part of the Air Transport Command. The unit supplied planes to the Army Air Corps whenever and wherever they were needed.
When the war ended in Europe, the unit was being moved, and on May 30, 1945, 18 WACs boarded a plane bound for Liberia. The plane disappeared and was never found. It was the largest single loss of women soldiers in the history of the nation.
In 2022, Edison celebrated its centennial, and part of that was creating a plaque for Richard Kraus, a Medal of Honor recipient who is also on the list of 116 names of Edison war dead.
As that plaque was dedicated, social studies teacher David Salzar and some students noted Puchalla’s name on the list, the only woman on that honor roll. Several students, led by Mianna Sledge, brought the issue to the Edison student legislature, and the creation of a plaque for Puchalla was debated.
The 2023 school year ended without a resolution, but members of the class of 2024 took it up again, led by Hall, who was speaker of the house.
Hall and Makhi Sledge, Mianna’s brother, traveled — sometimes on their bikes — to various community organizations, such as the Northeast Lions Club and the Falldin American Legion Post 555, to request funds for the plaque. Money also came from the Edison Community and Sports Foundation and a student activities fund. In all, $2,600 was raised.
Hall said in an interview that most students are unaware of Edison’s sacrifice in World War II, as was he.
“I had no idea that the students of the school where I go served in the war. All these stories need to be told, we need to remember their remarkable sacrifices.”