As a nurse near the front lines, she saw first-hand the horrors of war. Born near Vinco, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth graduated from nursing school, and then joined the Army Nurse Corps on July 7, 1942. On January 9, 1943, she married John Thomas "Jack" Elliott, an officer she met while stationed at Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. Elizabeth spent much of the conflict at the 28^th General Hospital in Liege, Belgium, where Jack was brought after being wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. Both served in the occupation of Germany, Elizabeth as a surgical supervisor in the 101^st General Hospital in Berlin. She arrived back in America on November 28, 1945, ending her military service as a first lieutenant. Elizabeth worked in nursing after the war. She and Jack also served as missionaries in Honduras.