Heroic U.S. Army “Hello Girls” of World War I to be honored at Colma cemetery
By Loureen Ayyoub
A service honoring the “Hello Girls,” women who served as bilingual telephone operators in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War I, is set for this weekend at a cemetery in Colma.
The women did not receive recognition for their service until the late 1970s and were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2024.
The Hello Girls performed critical communications work near combat zones, but at the time, their service was dismissed as clerical. They were not granted veteran status until decades later, after sustained advocacy.
Carolyn Timbie, whose grandmother Grace Banker served as chief operator in the Signal Corps, has been among those advocating for recognition.
“My mother told me about her – what an amazing woman, friend, mother. And for me to be robbed of knowing her service, that really hits home,” Timbie said.
Timbie and the Hello Girls Military Honors and Remembrance Project work to ensure the women’s gravesites include inscriptions recognizing their military service.
“It really was upsetting to see these women with no recognition, and we are experiencing this all the time as we visit the different headstones,” she said.
Timbie said 280 women served as telephone operators during World War I, wearing uniforms and facing life-threatening risks in combat zones.
“I have such immense pride in these women. It speaks to my heart that here we are finally seeing recognition for women that should have been honored decades ago,” she said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs and volunteer groups have worked to locate and honor the women, identifying eight interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, including Irma Armanet, whose gravesite had never been marked. Part of Saturday’s ceremony will include a dedication of her new military headstone.
The Hello Girls have also been the subject of books, a documentary, and a musical. The Ross Valley Players will perform the musical this weekend, with some cast members attending the ceremony.
The memorial will be held Saturday, Feb. 7, at 1 p.m. at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
