Author Archives: jacksondeakins

WAVES Ava Barton and Marcella Fisher are instructed on efficient and proper packing from Lt. Margaret Kuechle. They are preparing for overseas shipment — now that’s gotta be a packing list.

In honor of the Fourth of July, here’s a photo of some of the brave women who fought for freedom during WWII with the most recognizable symbol of that freedom in the world: The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, New York.

Lt. Rosamond D. Sells, of the U.S. Naval Reserve, swears the first African-American WAVES into the Navy in New York, New York. Miss Frances Willis and Miss Harriet I. Pickens are sworn in as apprentice seamen.

This group of WAVES just arrived to Pearl Harbor. While enjoying their Hawaiian deployment, they are also essential to the function of the U.S.’ largest naval base west of California. Mahalo, WAVES!

Ens. Mary F. Waters, a material officer, examines one of the 20mm guns aboard a ship harbored in Bethleham-Hingham, Massachusetts. Her job is instrumental in the maintenance and upkeep of the Navy’s weaponry and ordnance.

The USS Missouri, or Mighty Mo as it was commonly referred to, is visited by a group of WAVES in the above photograph. The Mighty Mo is arguably the most renown of the Navy’s WWII fleet, as it was the place of Japan’s surrender at the war’s conclusion.

These students at the NAS in Seattle, Washington are learning their way around a spacecraft prototype. Some out-of-this-world activity for WWII!

In the Trainer Operators and Maintenance Schools at the Naval Station Puget Sound, these WAVES are learning the ins and outs of interstellar travel. During a 10-week course, the women will study the fundamentals of astronomy, like the WAVES studying the Earth’s relation to the celestial sphere in the above photograph.

Pictured is the Henderson Hall Women Marines’ barracks in Arlington, Virginia. Looks like a fine piece of real estate! The barracks are essential to bonding in any military organization, bringing the feeling of home right to the base.

In the above photograph, WAVE Ethel Haberman fixes a message on to her latest trainee and preps it for takeoff. If only it knew it was carrying the weight of the war upon its wings.