A Blog About Women Who Were Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II
We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.
Here, she talks about her experiences in boot camp at Hunter College in New York – specifically, mealtime.
Her story is part of the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
On this Memorial Day, we offer a salute to the men and women who have served, and those who have died in service to our country.
This photograph, circa 1943, shows WAVES at Hunter College in the Bronx, New York, saluting the flag. It comes from the National Archives.
Today we’re honoring an important women to the Homefront Heroines crew.
March 8th is the birthday of the woman who inspired the Homefront Heroines project. Mary Marovich was born in Chicago on March 8th 1921. She enlisted in the WAVES in 1943 and after boot camp at Hunter College she became a Pharmacist’s Mate based at Treasure Island in San Francisco.
Mary worked as a telephone operator in Chicago before enlisting in the Navy. She followed six of her brothers into the service – four were with the Army, and two were first class petty officers in the Coast Guard (her younger brother would serve in the military in the Korean War).
Mary said before enlisting:
I’d really like to wear a six star pin (to honor her brothers), but I can’t find a story that sell them!
Mary married James Warren Ryan, an Army Air Corps pilot, while she was in the service. She left in 1945 after V-J Day and died in 1992.
Happy birthday, Mother!
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The French Navy’s Feminins de la Flotte began training with US Navy WAVES at Hunter College in June 1944, as noted in this news item from the WAVES Newsletter.
It comes from Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University.
WAVE Susan Ahn Cuddy was a trailblazer during her years in the Navy. The first Korean American WAVE, and first Korean American WAVE officer, she worked as a gunnery instructor before moving into Naval Intelligence.
You can read her story in the book Willow Tree Shade and see it in our film.
This is a preview of her story – taken from the film.
The sneak peek is part of our month of video countdown to the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
WAVE Helen Edgar Gilbert is one of those women often described as a “pistol.” She wrote the book “Okay, Girls, Man Your Bunks,” and didn’t hold back in the multiple interviews we did with her for this project and our film.
Here’s a preview of her story – taken from the film.
The sneak peek is part of our month of video countdown to the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
We continue our interview with Betty Bruns Lord and Lois Jean Linder, conducted in 2007.
Here, they talk about their assignments, and the reaction of their families their enlisting.
Their story is part of our month of video countdown to the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
We continue our interview with Betty Bruns Lord and Lois Jean Linder, conducted in 2007.
Here, they talk about the Navy uniforms.
Their story is part of our month of video countdown to the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
Best friends Betty Bruns Lord and Lois Jean Linder met after the war. We interviewed them together in a Boston suburb in 2007.
They talk about the regimentation in the Navy.
Their story is part of our month of video countdown to the home video release of Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.
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