History books remember Gen. Walter Bedell Smith as one of then-Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s fiercest chiefs of staff during World War II.

But if you ask retired Sgt. Fran Johnson, Smith was nothing but a “pussy cat.”

The 86-year-old Gainesville resident shared this memory Tuesday as she spoke to Gainesville Middle School students. Each year, sixth-grade teacher Haynes Kaufman partners with the Northeast Georgia History Center to put a face to history books by allowing students to interview U.S. veterans.

Johnson, a veteran of World War II, was one of hundreds of thousands of women who joined the nation’s first Women’s Army Corps during the war. The daughter of a World War I field doctor father and nurse mother, she worked from 1944-46 under Eisenhower who, at the time, had been appointed the U.S. Army chief of staff.

“It was the beginning of the women’s movement to work and get into a man’s world,” she told students, sweeping wrinkled fingers over photos of a younger version of herself in uniform. “The women were wonderful. They all had marvelous jobs and did wonderful things for the war effort.”

During the interviews, which will take place through this afternoon, students asked questions including where servicemen and women slept and whether they ever were homesick.

“I hope (students) will be grateful for and appreciate our freedom, and that they recognize the sacrifices a lot of these folks have made, whether they served overseas in conflict or not,” said Julie Carson, administrative coordinator at Brenau University’s Northeast Georgia History Center. “I think it’s very much taken for granted.”

Johnson, a Long Island native, went through eight weeks of basic training in Fort Oglethorpe after joining WAC. She has since donated many of her own keepsakes from the war to a history museum in Kansas and frequently takes time to share stories of her service with students.

“I like to find out how much they’re learning in these schools about the past history,” she said. “I’m kind of surprised that so many of them didn’t even know who some of the people I talked about were. I think the purpose of this program is to teach them, and I thinks it’s marvelous what the schools are doing now.”

At the time, servicewomen were not allowed to work if they were married, a rule Johnson called “terrible.”

When she became engaged to her late husband and was trying to decide if she should leave her job, she went to the future U.S. president for a little advice. “I remember what (Eisenhower) said,” she said. “‘You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.’”

In a nearby room, retired Sgt. 1st Class Brian Chambers invited students to sift through the slew of medals and artifacts he brought from his 20-year service in the U.S. Army as a paramedic.

Chambers, 46, is currently working toward a degree in environmental science at Gainesville State College and the University of Georgia. He said he hopes some students will choose a future in the military.

“I love spending time with (students),” he said. “Hopefully they’re gonna get the opportunity to give back to the nation that gave so much to everyone.”