world war 2 – Page 9 – Hinges of History

Operation Crossroads

Eileen was positioned in the Bureau of Ships as a “flying squadron,” or a temporary, so she was continually being moved from project to project. World War II ended in August 1945 and though the WAVES were originally supposed to be kept for duration plus six months, Eileen and others stayed on much longer.

In July 1946, Eileen was assigned to work on Operation Crossroads. This was a military mission to test nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands. At that time very little was known about how nuclear weapons were created and Eileen remembers hearing terms such as “nuclear engineer” for the first time that summer.

She looks back at this project as one of the most exciting missions of her service. (To learn more about Operation Crossroads and the Bikini Atoll blast click here. To see a gallery of photos from Operation Crossroads click here.) She worked specifically with the USS Wharton, taking care of the paperwork and processing travel orders for the men assigned to this ship that would sail for Bikini Island. She was even able to wave goodbye to the ship when it left. The damaging effects of this nuclear testing were a difficult surprise for Eileen and she alludes to feeling some responsibility for the “mess” the men were sent into.

Photobucket The USS Wharton (U.S. Navy photograph)

“I don’t know if any of them realized the power of the atom bomb. To the extent of what it became. Maybe the scientists themselves had an inkling, but I don’t know think they really knew.”

Yeoman’s Work

After training at Yeoman’s school in Cedar Falls, Eileen was stationed in Washington D.C.

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The photo above was taken at Iowa State Teacher’s College in Cedar Falls where Eileen (and Thorngate ) trained.

“I always say I joined the Navy to see the sea and I saw D.C.”

She was in the city when President Roosevelt died in 1943 and remembers seeing, through tears, the riderless horse follow the procession down Pennsylvania Avenue (pictured below).

“I really did at that point realize that I was, you know – small minute part, but a part of history.”

Rain Clouds

Eileen had a moment of doubt when she was in boot camp. She remembers waking up at Hunter College in New York to a particularly rainy and overcast morning. The WAVES were marching to breakfast wearing “havelocks.” (A havelock is a covering, pictured below, that hangs down from a military hat for protection in rain or sun. Eileen calls it, “rain gear.”) She questioned her decision to enlist for a moment that morning.

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“Clump clump clump. We probably looked like we were nuns from the nunnery or something. You know, dark clothes, marching along. And I looked over at the – there was the El train you know, high. You could see the lights of it. And I thought to myself, “What on earth did I sign up for? What did I think I was doing? Marching along at this ungodly hour to get breakfast? … And that was the one time when I wondered why I was where I was.”

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Navy WAVES, pictured above, marching in Cambridge, Mass. (US Navy photograph)

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First “chow” is served by the Red Cross at the Hunter College campus, as the facility is placed in service as the basic training center for Navy and Coast Guard women, 8 February 1943. (US Navy photograph)

Time to Enlist

Eileen remembers hearing about Pearl Harbor while she was at a church meeting. It was shortly after this infamous attack that her uncles and brother joined the Navy.

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“We knew it was serious, but I don’t think any of us realized how serious, because we were teenagers, you know. So… see, I graduated in June of 1941. That first year, a lot of my classmates were killed… in that first onslaught of the war.”

The fact that the Navy WAVES uniforms were fashionable was a big hit with the women who enlisted.

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“Well, look at khaki. I mean, who looks good in khaki? Or even, you know, that drab green the Marines have. But there was something more exciting about the Navy, and sea, and ships and so forth.” – Eileen Blakely

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“I would look good in blue, and after all, my uniform was a dress designer: Mainbocher. … My eyes are blue so they matched. Blue is my color. ” – Eileen Blakely

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.

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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. “

Meet Eileen Horner Blakely

Ethel Eileen Horner Blakely joined the WAVES in 1944 at 20 years of age. She was persuaded to join along with a church friend whose husband was in the army. Eileen went to Hunter College in the Bronx, New York, for boot camp and next to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for Yeoman’s school (a “Yeoman” in the Navy does secretarial work). She was in the same school at the same time as Margaret Thorngate, and they are sitting near each other in their unit portrait.

Eileen, originally from Ohio, saw her life as quiet and dull. She wanted to make a difference and joining the Navy seemed the patriotic thing to do. With a desire to get out of her comfort zone, she signed up for the WAVES – a place where she was needed.

“I have an uncle who joined the day after Pearl Harbor … A year later another uncle joined the Navy. The year after that, my brother joined the Navy. So when 1944 came, I decided it was my turn. So I joined the Navy.”

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.

Girls in Blue

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“In today’s Navy … I certainly recommend women to do it because they’ve got all the opportunities in the world.”

Eileen Blakely, is pictured below (bottom row, third from left) with Margaret (bottom row, fifth from left) in school at Cedar Falls, then the Iowa State Teachers College. They were not acquainted at the time, but are now both Oregon residents, only three hours apart, and members of the statewide WAVES group.

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“We met some people from all over. I had three people, WAVES roommates, that we stayed together or kept in touch ‘til they died.” – Margaret Thornagate

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.”

Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II

Welcome to hingesofhistory.com.

In this site we’ll be telling the the stories of the WAVES of World War II, or Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service. The blog is part of the larger multimedia project “Homefront Heroines: The WAVES of World War II.