Rank #353 in NON FICTION
As a salute to all the many women who fought in World War II, at home, in secret, in the service, we give you this collection of stories of real-life women. Like Agent Peggy Carter, too often their sacrifice and service was...
WWII - U.S. NAVY WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service)
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Dorothy Clark Garrison
By: Allison Veselka, Assistant at the Barnes County Museum in Valley City, North Dakota
At the age of 94 she is still sharp as tack although wheelchair bound. Dorothy enlisted in the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in late October of 1944. She enlisted because "she had to do something other that just sitting at home." She took her training in Bronx, NY.
After finishing her training she had to wait for assignment, which was to work at Naval Annex which was up the hill from the Pentagon in Washington D.C. She did mostly secretarial work, such as typing and filing.
While working at the Naval Annex she stayed in Barracks which were located across from Arlington Cemetery. She remembers watching funeral processions go by. She also remembers going sight-seeing with other enlisted girls. Sometimes they would even invite boys over to the Barracks for dances. That was how she met her husband.
After serving for only a year, she married her husband at St. Michael's in Washington D.C. Dorothy talks with fondness about her time in the service saying that "she enjoyed being in Washington D.C. and the people she met while in service."
