It was in 1943 when Dorothy Turnbull headed to boot camp at Hunter College. While she was there, they tried to discover what she could do in the Navy.
They interviewed you and tested you and did all of this with us. And marched around, and I enjoyed that. So as I would be interviewed, I realized I couldn’t say I wanted, I was – I was good in numbers, but I sure didn’t want to go to bookkeeping or storekeeping, or whatever they called it. I couldn’t imagine myself as selling anything or that storekeeping, you see (laughs). That’s what I thought it was. All I could do was talk and tell them about things I believed in. So they decided that that’s all I could do, and that’s what a recruiter does.
This photograph of Dorothy’s boot class comes from the collection of Dorothy Turnbull Stewart.
Hinges of History 
Thank you so much for posting your pictures on this website. I am 99% positive that my Mother is in this picture. Is there any way to verify this with you? Thanks. DMP
Thanks so much for your interest. Unfortunately, I don’t have a list of the women in this photograph. In some of the photos we received the women wrote identifying names on the back (or even on the front) of the picture. In this one, I only have the front of the photo with no additional information. I’m so sorry!
Thank you so very much for your kind and prompt reply. I do appreciate it. The rest of the family has also identified her, so I will go with our 99% sure. She is now 91. I am so very grateful to have found this picture. It is incredible! And thank you for this website to teach the rest of us of all of our Mothers’ contributions to WWII while they were in the NAVY WAVES.