Corporal Vera Nuschler was born July 20, 1924 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents migrated from Ukraine in the early 1900s and her father opened a small family restaurant. He lost the restaurant during the depression; however, he was always able to find work. Vera remembers as a child visiting all of the historic sites in Philadelphia and developing a fascination with early American history. When she was 19 years old, she forged her birth certificate and joined the Marine Corp Women's Reserve in 1943. After completing her basic training she went to radio school in Omaha, Nebraska and was assigned to a Signal Battalion Unit at Camp Pendleton, California. She was responsible for checking out and providing maintenance on radio equipment. Several of the Marines who she checked equipment out to were the Navajo Code Talkers. She was discharged on Christmas day in 1945.
