Lt. Col. Charity Earley’s military career made history.
Not only was she the first black commissioned officer in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, but she also was commander of the only black women who served overseas in World War II. At a time when platoons were still separated by race, Lt. Col. Earley directed an all-black battalion of 850 females to deliver mail to Americans stationed in Europe. The trailblazer for black women in the military died Jan. 13 in Dayton, Ohio, leaving behind a legacy of breaking boundaries to serve one’s country.
In memory of Lt. Col. Earley and all women who served in the military during World War II, Col. A. Barney Oldfield USAF (ret.) has donated $500 to the Vada Kinman Oldfield Alzheimer’s Research Fund at UNMC.
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Each year the fund provides a $10,000 award to an outstanding UNMC scientist conducting Alzheimer’s research. Col. Oldfield established the fund in honor of his wife Vada, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for 11 years before her death in 1999. The University of Nebraska Foundation administers the fund.
Col. Oldfield and his wife met in 1931 while attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and married two years after graduating in 1933.
Like Lt. Col. Earley, Vada served overseas in World War II in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, which was forerunner of the Women’s Army Corps. She joined the military to be closer to her husband, and served a total of 24 months overseas.
Col. Oldfield later became a legend in the public relations field, counting former President Ronald Reagan and boxer George Foreman among his friends, but he never forgot his roots. To date, the Oldfields have given more than $4 million to various scholarship funds and programs.