Renee Messelin, first Black woman soldier to serve overseas, honored at Lincoln Cemetery memorial

A powerful ceremony on Thursday honored World War I veteran Renee Messelin, the first Black woman soldier to serve overseas for the U.S. military.

Some connections are instant. Others take a little more time. Carolyn Timbie traveled from New Hampshire to Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois for a connection two generations in the making.

Messelin served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps in World War I. She was one of more than 280 who women answered the call to serve by connecting calls for the U.S. Army in France.

Timbie's grandmother, Grace Banker, was the chief operator of the unit.

"If you missed a minute, if the lines were down, that could be lives lost," Timbie said.

The women were called the "Hello Girls."

"They were treated as soldiers, they were told they were soldiers, but they returned to the country told that they are not veterans," Timbie said.

Donna Ayres' great aunt, Olive Shaw, was also a Hello Girl. Ayres and Timbie both live in New Hampshire.

"So we have traveled many places together," she said.

Descendants of the Hello Girls have found the perfect way to honor their connections – a mission to recognize women like Messelin.

"While she was a French citizen, she actually had been born in Chicago, Illinois; the daughter of an African American couple," researcher Diane Boettcher said.

Messelin passed as white and kept her Black heritage hidden, according to Boettcher. She was the first African American woman to serve overseas, and she's the latest Hello Girl to be honored with a memorial ceremony and headstone acknowledging her service.

No living relatives were at Thursday's ceremony, but every Hello Girl has plenty of connections.