VERNELLE “VE” GRABLE
Corporal, Women's Army Corps
India-China Division
Air Transport Command
Born Oct 29, 1921 in Weatherford Texas, Vernelle attended North Texas State Teachers College, Denton TX and UCLA in L.A. CA majoring
in Journalism.
During World War II, Ve’ enlisted in the Women's Army Corps in 1944 and served as War Correspondent in the China-Burma-India Theater,
stationed in Calcutta, India as a reporter for the Hump Express GI newspaper.
There she met Madame Chiang Kai-shek and in November 1945 interviewed female aviator Jaqueline Cochran, the first woman to fly a bomber across the
Atlantic, leading to formation of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs) program.
At the end of the War, Ve’ married Rob Bensel, a decorated B-17 aviator.
Rob died during the 1949 polio outbreak.
Ve’ pursued her journalism career at newspapers in Chicago, Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Hollywood (Fort Worth Star Telegram, Hearst publications, the
Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Hollywood Citizen News and the Hollywood Reporter).
Ve’ met and married George Eisenhauer when both worked at the L.A. Examiner.
They lived in North Hollywood, where both retired.
Ve’ passed in 2005 in California.
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