Tag Archives: Bronx

Jiu Jitsu or Judo?

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Navy WAVE Naomi Sue Kleinberg Edmond Tofil, US Marine Corps, demonstrate the art of jiu jitsu during a demonstration at the Hunter College boot camp in 1943. She’s using a circle throw against her opponent.

Both Kleinberg and Tofil were experts in the martial art of jiu jitsu, which itself is a hybrid of judo. The confusion? The terms “judo” and “jiu jitsu” were originally largely interchangeable both inside and outside of Japan, where the martial art originated. But as of 1925, the Japanese government mandated that “judo” was the proper term to be used. Did the Navy use the term jiu jitsu during the war to help differentiate American martial arts fighters from the enemy Japan? Good question – and it’s not clear what the answer is. If anyone knows, let us know in the comments.

Neutralize the Enemy

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WAVE Naomi Sue Kleinberg is using an arm lock and foothold “neutralize” Marines John Kinckley and Edmond Tofil during a 1943 demonstration at the Hunter College boot camp in 1943. All three are jiu jitsu experts.

The photograph comes from the National Archives.

Mess Hall

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A girl needs to take time out of her busy day of training to eat! Here WAVE Maurine Hewitt and friend eat dinner in the mess hall at the Hunter College boot camp in 1943. The meal looks fairly hearty: steak, potatoes, veggies, pasta, rolls and a huge slab of watermelon.

The photo comes from the National Archives.

Model Ships

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WAVE officer Elizabeth Reynard designed the training at the Hunter College boot camp so that women would learn from real life examples – or, in the case of ships, models of the ships the Navy used.  Here, 1943 trainees crowd around a WAVE officer to learn about the different types of ships that made up the Navy fleet (and those that the enemy used), with the idea that they would be better able to identify them once they were at their permanent stations.

The photograph comes from the U.S. National Archives.

High Dive

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Here’s a photo to make you swoon on a sultry summer day. The WAVE is Margaret Rheinhold. 1943 American amateur diving champion, in mid-spin during a plunge off the high dive at the Hunter College boot camp in the Bronx during her training in 1943.

The photo is held by the National Archives.

Conning Tower

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Every Naval station and training center had its own newspaper. The WAVES even had a monthly newsletter that was sent to all members from Naval headquarters in Washington, DC. Conning Tower was the base newspaper for the Hunter College WAVES boot camp in the Bronx, New York.

This edition is from August, 1943. The headline of the day? First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt would be visiting the facility.

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The newspaper is held by the The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

Birthday Girls

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Yesterday was the Coast Guard birthday, last week was the anniversary of the founding of the WAVES and today is my sister’s birthday. So it only seems appropriate to continue the birthday theme, with this ad from the August 1943 edition of Conning Tower, the official newspaper of the WAVES boot camp at Hunter College in the Bronx, New York.

Happy birthday all!

The newspaper is held by the The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

To Training School

The initial Navy WAVES boot camp was at Iowa State Teacher’s College in Cedar Falls. It would be a boot camp in fall of 1942 through January 1943. In February 1943, the WAVES boot camp moved to Hunter College in the Bronx, New York.

This image comes from Marjorie Sue Green’s booklet From Recruit to Salty WAVE! The Ordeal of Seaman Green held by The Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.