Hazel B’s Songs Exchanged for Smiles


W


Hazel was 14, but she fi bbed about her


age to tour organizers. “I prayed, ‘God, forgive me for lying about it, but I’ve got to get


over there,’” Hazel recalled recently.


orld War II was ending, and American soldiers were


coming off the front lines through northern France. T ey were bloody. T ey were limping. Some couldn’t walk at all. But the USO Tour was there


to greet them with the comfort of music. With her voice and guitar, Auxiliary member Hazel Clarke of Westbrook, Maine, was among them. Hazel was 14, but she fi bbed


about her age to tour organizers. “I prayed, ‘God, forgive me for lying about it, but I’ve got to get over there,’” Hazel recalled recently. More than 100 performers gave


everything they had to returning American heroes. When the shows were over, those heroes had one question: “Hazel, what can we do to thank you for greeting us as we came off the line?” Hazel wanted nothing but “to


see a tear in their eye or a smile on their face,” she said. And that she got. “I’ve seen more tears, smiles, ‘thank you’s’ and hugs than I’ve ever encountered in my life,” she said.


16 | Ladies Auxiliary VFW Magazine


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