As part of MPR’s “Portraits of Valor” series, MPR’s Evan Frost profiles Minnesota’s Doris and Richard Edge. The farthest away Doris and Richard Edge lived from each other was during the middle of World War II. They didn’t know each other yet, but they both grew up east St. Paul before being called to join the war effort, voluntarily for Doris and through the draft for Richard. 

In 1943, Doris signed up for WAVES — which stood for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, a Navy Reserves program created the year before that was one of the first ways for women to enter the military. Doris became a yeoman, doing secretarial work for a WAVES officer from Milwaukee. 

That same year, Richard was drafted directly after finishing high school. After his initial check in at Fort Snelling, he was sent to Germany by way of Texas. He was part of a mortar squad, 12 men who carried and fired mortars to protect infantry advancing in front of them.

This is one of six profiles in series.

Click links below for other profiles in series:

https://archive.mpr.org/stories/2020/04/15/portraits-of-valor-dan-cylkowski-94-army

https://archive.mpr.org/stories/2020/05/08/portraits-of-valor-bob-holmstrom-94-army

https://archive.mpr.org/stories/2020/05/22/portraits-of-valor-dick-kern-94-army

https://archive.mpr.org/stories/2020/09/28/portraits-of-valor-joe-stephes-99-navy

Awarded:

2020 MBJA Eric Sevareid Award, first place in Series - Large Market Radio category