WWII Women’s Army Corps Vet Alumna Honored at CSUN

  • Ethel Margolin and California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel stand side by side in front of the American flag, holding Margolin's plaque.

    Ethel Margolin is honored at a veterans recognition luncheon by California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel. Photo by David J. Hawkins.

  • Group shot of Stuart Waldman, Assemblymembers Adrin Nazarian and Jesse Gabriel, and Robert Gunsalus.

    Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) President Stuart Waldman ’95 (Political Science), Assemblymembers Adrin Nazarian and Jesse Gabriel, and Robert Gunsalus, vice president for University Advancement and president of the CSUN Foundation. Photo by David J. Hawkins

  • Dr. Vito Imbasciani and Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel stand with three veterans.

    Dr. Vito Imbasciani, California Department of Veterans Affairs secretary, far left, and Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, second from right, stand with veterans honored at the San Fernando Valley veterans recognition luncheon at the CSUN Orange Grove Bistro. Photo by David J. Hawkins

The honorees at a San Fernando Valley veterans recognition luncheon at the CSUN Orange Grove Bistro included Ethel Margolin, 97, an alumna and veteran of the Women’s Army Corps in World War II.

Margolin enlisted in the WAC at 21 and was offered a field commission after left basic training, but she rejected it because she wanted to work her way up the ranks. Margolin was stationed at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, a base operating B-24 and B-25 bombers. She later moved to the Air Transport Command of the 8th Air Force in Cincinnati, where she stayed for the remainder of the war.

In the 1970s, Margolin attended CSUN and Los Angeles Pierce College.

The veterans recognition luncheon was hosted at CSUN in conjunction with several California Assemblymembers, each of whom honored two or three veterans from various wars. Assemblymembers Jesse Gabriel (D-Northridge), Adrin Nazarian (D-Van Nuys), Luz Rivas (D-Arleta) and Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) attended the event. Dr. Vito Imbasciani, California Department of Veterans Affairs secretary, was the keynote speaker.