FORT MILL — More than 350,000 women served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II.

One of the few survivors is a 101-year-old enjoying her retirement in Fort Mill, tending to her garden and birdfeeders in the interior courtyard of her assisted living complex. Sometimes she shares a story about her in the military — just on occasion. After all, it’s been 80 years.

“I don’t have a lot of memories of being in the service, but I remember I did enjoy it, and it was very good for me,” Margaret Brewer told The Post and Courier.

Prior to the war, women had been serving as Army and Navy nurses for decades. More opportunities developed in 1942, with each branch creating corps or programs for women, according to the National Park Service . They served as clerks, mechanics, pilots, gunnery

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