Before they were nuns, they were part of a generation of Americans thrust into World War II.
One woman went into the Coast Guard, the other joined the Army.
Both served with the same dedication that they now serve God.

Sister Joachim Mullen, 88, may be driving an electric wheelchair nowadays, but there was a time when she figured she should be sitting behind the wheel of a big-rig 18-wheeler.

"The men," she said, wouldn't let her.

That was back during World War II when she was a Coast Guard SPAR -- a designation representing the service's Latin motto, Semper Paratus, or "always ready." Some 11,000 women served in the Coast Guard during the war.