Tag Archives: veterans

After the War

We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.

Eileen was one of the women who took advantage of the GI Bill, which had passed in 1944 before her first tour of service ended. It had always been her dream to attend college. She took a few night courses at George Washington University, while in Washington D.C., but as soon as she signed the papers to leave the WAVES, she went to Kent State University in Ohio to study Business Administrative Economics.

Her time with the WAVES was not up though. Eileen re-enlisted in 1951 during the Korean War and volunteered for a two-year term. She was again stationed in Washington D.C. and doing Yeoman’s work, except this time as a chief.

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“A chief, you know, has privileges in enlisted cafeterias and stuff and mess halls. And so you go to the head of the line, and that always bothered me. But one time I was just kind of staying back, you know. And one of the other chiefs said, “You get up here” (laughs). So I did.”

…….

One of the highlights of her service was doing research for Captain Walter Karig, who was writing a book about the Korean War.  Her name is listed in the book as a contributor.

 She had planned to stay on with the WAVES permanently, but in May of 1952 she met her husband, Walter, they married in August, and she left the WAVES for good in 1953.  When his service obligations ended, they moved to the West Coast, where Walter had family.  Eileen now lives in Grants Pass, Oregon.

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Karig’s book, where Chief Yeoman Ethel Eileen Horner is listed as a part of his staff.

Growing up

We’re continuing our series looking back at the life of Eileen Horner Blakely, who died December 30th at the age of 96.

She was born in Orville, OH., but her family moved to Canton, OH., when she was a baby which is where she grew up. Looking back, she knows her family struggled during the Depression, but she doesn’t remember feeling hungry or deprived.  Her father worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and her mother worked in a bakery, but the family still lost their home in 1932. They were able to move into a large house as caretakers, however, and some of Eileen’s fondest memories took place in this house.

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“I remember that we had two peach trees. One was a white peach and one was a yellow peach. Jack [Eileen’s younger brother]and I claimed a tree that was ours. We’d built a old tar paper shack. It was kind of off the garage and had a club – a secret club. Everybody knew where it was, but it was one of those kid things.”

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“We never felt poor because everybody was in the same boat in those days. People would help each other out. “

Little Helen Edgar

Helen was born in Philadelphia, but because of the Depression, when she was young, her family moved to New Jersey so that her father could find work.  She had one older brother, Jim, who also enlisted in the Navy, shortly after Helen.

Helen started working soda fountain and drugstore jobs when she was 15 and she jokes about going from job to job.  Her life plan was to go to college, get married and have kids. The strike on Pearl Harbor, in 1941, changed her plans and sent her on an adventure into the WAVES.

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“I got fired a lot. I gave too much ice cream to my friends.”

After the War

Eileen was one of the women who took advantage of the GI Bill, which had passed in 1944 before her first tour of service ended. It had always been her dream to attend college. She took a few night courses at George Washington University, while in Washington D.C., but as soon as she signed the papers to leave the WAVES, she went to Kent State University in Ohio to study Business Administrative Economics.

Her time with the WAVES was not up though. Eileen re-enlisted in 1951 during the Korean War and volunteered for a two-year term. She was again stationed in Washington D.C. and doing Yeoman’s work, except this time as a chief.

Photobucket

“A chief, you know, has privileges in enlisted cafeterias and stuff and mess halls. And so you go to the head of the line, and that always bothered me. But one time I was just kind of staying back, you know. And one of the other chiefs said, “You get up here” (laughs). So I did.”

…….

One of the highlights of her service was doing research for Captain Walter Karig, who was writing a book about the Korean War.  Her name is listed in the book as a contributor.

 She had planned to stay on with the WAVES permanently, but in May of 1952 she met her husband, Walter, they married in August, and she left the WAVES for good in 1953.  When his service obligations ended, they moved to the West Coast, where Walter had family.  Eileen now lives in Grants Pass, Oregon.

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Karig’s book, where Chief Yeoman Ethel Eileen Horner is listed as a part of his staff.

Growing up

Eileen Blakely was born in Orville, OH., but her family moved to Canton, OH., when she was a baby which is where she grew up. Looking back, she knows her family struggled during the Depression, but she doesn’t remember feeling hungry or deprived.  Her father worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and her mother worked in a bakery, but the family still lost their home in 1932. They were able to move into a large house as caretakers, however, and some of Eileen’s fondest memories took place in this house.

Photobucket

“I remember that we had two peach trees. One was a white peach and one was a yellow peach. Jack [Eileen’s younger brother]and I claimed a tree that was ours. We’d built a old tar paper shack. It was kind of off the garage and had a club – a secret club. Everybody knew where it was, but it was one of those kid things.”

Photobucket

“We never felt poor because everybody was in the same boat in those days. People would help each other out. “

Margaret and Her Lucky Brushstroke

For the filming of the final scene of “Homefront Heroines: the WAVES of World War II,” the producers would like to take Margaret to the USS Missouri, now a floating museum in Hawaii, and film her sharing her remarkable story about painting the ship for luck.  The documentary film begins with Margaret’s memories and ending with this in-person visit to the site will bring the story full circle.

The USS Missouri was in the San Francisco harbor and one of Margaret’s colleagues had tickets to tour the ship.  Margaret pulled away from the tour and started chatting with some sailors painting on deck.

 Watch the video below and listen to the story from Margaret herself:

Homefront Heroines is still raising funds to complete the project.  Help support Homefront Heroines and send Margaret back to the USS Missouri.

Purple Heart Queen

Margaret was sponsored by the Western Sea Frontier during a Red Cross blood drive contest. She gave speeches and publicly inspired others to donate. She did not win, but received recognition for collecting nearly one thousand pints of blood. The WAVES played a significant role in sending blood to the crises at Iwo Jima and Okinawa during the war.

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Margaret, pictured below (center), considered herself a shy woman at the time and her husband now affirms that it was a great personal feat for her to take on such a public role.

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“I went around to different places and got people to donate blood. I probably made my first speech on a ship.”