It will be a very happy Veteran's Day for Attleboro resident, Irene Martin Davey.

Davey is Massachusetts' oldest woman veteran at 102. She is a self-described "flag waver" who joined the U.S. Army in March of 1943 and served until November 1945. She was part of a force of about 351,000 women who served in World War II and has become one of 21.9 million veterans in the United States today.

"'Release a man to help your man' was a common motto of the time," Davey said from her Brown Street home. "What it meant was if a woman could take a man's job, that man was released to join the armed forces. That made the armed forces stronger, helping your man who was in the armed forces be that much safer."

Davey was part of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps at Fort Devens. She was assigned to motor transport where she did everything that the men did. She trained other women in driving rugged trucks and taking care of vehicle maintenance. She made deliveries and took the sick and injured soldiers home in ambulances.

"A few of the ladies went overseas but if you had a husband who was stationed here and my husband was stationed in North Carolina, I could choose to stay in the states, which I did," Davey said.

The job gave Davey a chance to travel from Fort Devens to Camp Campbell, TN, then to Cincinnati and finally Dayton where she worked in recruitment and earned the rank of staff sergeant.

"I was proud," she recalls. "I could not help but be proud of what I had done."

After her service in World War II, Davey stayed involved becoming a warden at the election polls in Attleboro.

Of all the presidents, Davey loved John F. Kennedy the best. Franklin D. Roosevelt was president during that time and Davey said he was a beacon of strength for all Americans. 

"He had polio which proves you don't have to be perfect to make a difference in this world," she said. 

Veteran's Day is a special time for Davey who is touched when she sees WW II veterans still marching in the annual parades. 

"My heart goes out to them," she says. "There's nothing I like hearing more than someone thanking a veteran for their service."

Davey remembers the last day of the war with a huge grin. "I was alone walking  down the street in Dayton," she said. "A young soldier came running up to me, gave me a great big kiss. He said the war was over and then laughed and said that he had never in his life kissed a sergeant before!"

"He ran off shouting that the war was over, while someone else was shooting a rifle in the air in celebration," she said. "I continued walking to the first church I came upon, went in and said, 'It's over! It's over! Thank God, it's over!'"

Davey is an exceptionally patriotic lady who stays involved with local, state and even national politics. She says, "Our country needs a lot of fixing. There's a great split these days between the Democrats and the Republicans. They forget that we are all Americans. They have to learn that America comes first!"

Davey attributes her longevity, she will be 103 years of age in January, to having common sense, a good sense of humor and staying active. "I just gave up my driver's license a few years ago when I was ninety-nine (because) I didn't want to be paying the insurance anymore."

Davey said she lives day-to-day never thinking about dying and stays active by cleaning, cooking and going out in the yard.

"The day you sit down . . .well, that's when you end up doing nothing."

While serving in the army, Davey wrote several poems and set them to music. She still carries a tune as she sings her poem about her job with the Motor Corps:

We can drive them through the ditches

We can drive them o'er the plains

We can drive them through the valleys

And o'er the rough terrain.

We will drive them in the sunshine

And through the pounding rain

We of the Motor Corps.

We will always keep them rolling

You can bet we'll keep them rolling

We will always keep them rolling

We of the Motor Corps.

We can drive the mighty trucks

And we can drive the little jeep

Drive them through all sorts of peril

And you'll never hear a peep

Drive them through the desert sand

While we're lending you a hand

We of the Motor Corps.

We can drive the car of mercy

For the wounded and the sick

Drive the staff car too

And get you there double quick

We can drive the weapons carrier

For the arms that your boys need

We of the Motor Corps.

Do not think that we are tough, boys

Cause we look a little rough

We can prove that we are ladies

At the same time do our stuff

We will drive them through strange lands

Just to offer you a hand

We of the Motor Corps.