“She can keep a secret.” With this headline on the front page of Los Angeles Examiner On September 27, 1919, we welcomed home a war heroine, Juliette Courtial, who had served in World War I with the “Hello Girls,” a unit of all-female telephone operators commanded by General Pershing in France.

Nearly 100 years later, on Friday morning, August 23, approximately 150 civilians and military personnel gathered at St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery in Sonoma to remember and pay their final respects to Juliette Louise Courtial Smith at her graveside.

After moving to Sonoma, she had died 19 years earlier and was buried without a headstone in St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery. Thanks to the efforts of Maeve Smith, director of the Sonoma Live Arts Theatre Company, and Lillian Meyers, a local Sonoma businesswoman and community leader, she finally received a headstone honoring her service to her country.

Courtial Smith was one of 7,000 women who responded to General Pershing’s call to provide a small unit of women as telephone operators and real-time translators for his campaign in France.

Pershing knew that maintaining contact with army commanders scattered throughout France would be a major challenge if the campaign was to succeed. Female telephone operators were considered by their employers to be much faster than their male counterparts. Applicants who spoke French, such as Courtial Smith, were particularly valuable.

In March 1918, 223 women sailed to France, where they were sent first to Paris and later to the major battle lines. They were sworn into the telephone service unit of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, became known as “Hello Girls,” and were assigned to General Pershing.

Two of the Hello Girls died during the war, including Inez Crittenden, who was buried in France. Family members received an American flag and an Army Signal Corps award at the memorial sites.

When the war was over, the Hello Girls were denied veteran status, even though they had worn Army uniforms and dog tags and sworn the Army oath. For six decades, the Hello Girls and their advocates continued to demand recognition as Army soldiers and veteran status. In 1977, President Carter signed legislation recognizing some specialized, all-women World War I units as members of the Army, and through the advocacy of one of the remaining Hello Girls, language was inserted to include them. However, only 33 Hello Girls were alive at the time, and they received neither veterans’ benefits nor back pay.

The Sonoma program began with music from the Sonoma Ceremonial Brass Band, followed by an introduction by Courtial Smith and the story of the Hello Girls by Maeve Smith.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Bear Flag Post 1943, AMVETS, and the Jack London Post 489 American Legion held honorary ceremonies for Courtial Smith. Her name will be placed on the Star of Honor wall at the Sonoma Veterans Cemetery.

Zoe Dunning, retired Navy commander and commissioner of the World War I Centennial Commission, spoke about the significant contributions of the Signal Corps Telephone Operator Unit to the war effort and the advancement of women’s rights in the early 20th century.

Rebecca Hermosillo, representing U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, read a letter from the congressman honoring Courtial Smith as an Army veteran of World War I and recognizing her for her courageous service during the war.

Col. Julia Donley of the U.S. Army Signal School, representing the long tradition of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, described the crucial role of the “Hello Girls” in the war in relaying 26 million calls from headquarters to commanders in the field.

In a letter, Courtial Smith’s great-grandnephew, Captain John Alexis Courtial, head of Navy Security Forces in Virginia Beach, praised “the strength she possessed when she left her home in Louisiana and traveled to Europe at a critical time to perform duties that required her to connect generals and officers across the front lines and to transport men, war supplies and equipment that would ultimately bring about the end of the war.”

The cast of Sonoma Live Arts Theatre Company performed a song from the musical “The Hello Girl,” which Sonoma Arts Live presented last spring. The song, “Making History,” asks, “Will you make history? Will you answer the call?”

A wreath was then placed at the grave. Thanks to the efforts of Lillian Meyers and Maeve Smith, Jim Theres of the National Cemetery Administration’s Washington DC office, and Fatima Sandoval, Luis Salcedo and Oscar Rayas Gomes of St. Francis Solano Catholic Cemetery, a bright white headstone was placed at her grave, identifying Juliette Cortial Smith as an Army veteran and Hello Girl.

Fatima Sandoval and her team regularly assist families of veterans in contacting the National Cemetery Administration and requesting headstones that document their service. “We know our work is important to the families, and we try everything we can to make this process easier for the families during a difficult time,” she said.

The ceremony concluded with a rifle salute by the Honor Guard and tattoo played by trumpeter Kevin Paul, Director of Operations for the Doughboy Foundation, followed by a blessing.

The Doughboy Foundation was established to support the construction of the World War I Memorial in Washington DC and to educate the public about the war. Family members were presented with an American flag flying over the U.S. Capitol.

The Commission, descendants of the Hello Girls, and the Doughboy Foundation are advocating for the Hello Girls to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. Currently, the U.S. Senate bill S. 815 has 51 co-signers in the Senate and 96 in the House. Commissioner Dunning urged the audience to contact their Congressmen to support S.815. https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/honor/valor-medals-image/Hello-girls.html