Monday, August 9, 1943

So, this is what it must be like to grow up with a sister.  No offense Andew (my brother), but I have always heard there is nothing like growing up with a sister.  Grandma communicates volumes in a paragraph and a half to her sister, My Great Aunt Peggy.  I always capitalized her title because I thought it was necessary for such a glamorous lady.  It feels like I am walking into a conversation that was started decades ago.  Grandma asks one specific thing of Aunt Peggy that's driving me bonkers with curiosity.  "Do you think they will be married?"

Grandma mentions Marilyn in the sentence before.  I wonder if she's referencing Marilyn, her best friend back home, and Roy getting married?  Remember Roy was Grandma's beaux, then he went into the army, and flaked on my Grandma?  Then Grandma went into the Navy and ended up marrying my Grandfather.  Then Marilyn started dating, married, had a child with, and subsequently divorced Roy.  So, I wonder if it's their wedding they're talking about.

Now, there is another character that is introduced in these letters.  His name is Russ and upon questioning my Mother, there is one of two explanations for Russ.  He is either a partial owner of the Red and Martha family dairy or Russ and Red are an item.  We are not certain, but it is one of the two.  Mom and I discussed getting the Quija board out and calling up Grandma and Aunt Peg.  I will let you know what they report back.  We'll probably interrupt their weekly card game.

This is the first letter that I felt Grandma Robinson's personality come through.  She loved to laugh and was definitely brassy.  I can hear her smoky giggles bubbling up through her chest now.  Even with everything she went through after the war, she still tried to be my Grandmother.  She wasn't perfect, but she told great stories and enjoyed making others laugh.  I loved watching my Uncle and cousins tease Grandma.  It always filled the house with laughter.  Her laugh really is how I remember her best.

On this day in WWII history

Thursday, August 5, 1943

Thursday, August 29, 2013

My Grandmother is studying to become a Yeoman 2nd Class.  The Navy informed the WAVES that if they have the approval of their commanding officer, they can go on ahead with their testing even if they haven't served the required 9 months.  I didn't know she wanted to continue her career with the Navy.  Her commanding officer even said, "When (you're) ready to try for Officer's Training (I) would do everything possible to see that (you) made it."  Grandma doesn't know if she's going to apply for it because she might not get it, but she is going to move forward with the Yeoman 2nd Class testing.  She wants to ensure that she receives, "...the big sum of $96 a month."  Then there's my favorite line. It's perfect when you take it out of context.  "When I am second class you can have it put in the paper."  I think that would set her raspy giggles off for sure.

She also talks about all of the Miami night clubs that she and Marvel visited during their time with the WAVES.  I can only imagine what nightclubs 1940s Miami produced.  Places called Skybar, The Drum, and Flagler's Garden.  She even heard Les Brown's Orchestra when she danced at Flagler Gardens.  

Before you read this portion of the post, I would recommend listening to this song as you read it. 

Oh can you just imagine?  The steamy air hugging your clothes close to your body as you swirl across the dance floor with a gorgeous Navy Ensign's arm around your waist.  The shock of the icy drink as it glides down your parched throat during a break in the music.  It's all palm trees, smoky nights, and full brass bands splashed against the backdrop of battleships.  Live in the moment and inhale those memories.  Cause when you leave, you don't know if you're ever coming home.

On this day in WWII history

Friday, July 30, 1943

Monday, August 26, 2013

Women have not changed over the last century.  Our status in society has changed since WWII and we have women like my Grandmother to thank for that.  Our world had to call on so many men in WWII that women were actually taken on in desperation to fulfill the duties left behind by those men.  This was a major step in the direction of equality for women.

Women were taking on jobs that men were doing for decades in the military.  Every last man was needed because we almost wiped out an entire generation in WWI.  So, women took over these empty secretarial and clerk posts in the military.  The WAVES were in the Navy while the WACS (Women's Army Corp) were only with the Army as an auxiliary branch.  By the 1950s, those types of positions were considered women's work, but a mere decade earlier it was completely shocking for them to have such a role at all.  When the war ended, many of the returning soldiers did take their positions back, but the kindling for the fire of the sexual revolution was sparked.  The very next generation set that sexual revolution fire ablaze.

And what is my Grandmother worrying about?  The fact that she has to do the dance in front of an audience again.  She think she looks like a big cow up on the stage.  Not the truth that she is making huge strides for her gender, but the idea that she sticks out like a dancing bovine in a program with 11 other people!  Then there's me, who lives in a world where we question a woman's moral fiber and character upon the length of her hem line.  I can only imagine what it was like in the 40s with parents who were born in the 1800s.

Women have come a long way, but until we stop shaming each other, the world will continue to shame us.

Today in WWII history

WAVES of the Navy Anthem

Special Thanks to the US Navy Band and The Sea Chanters for recording this

Credit to: Jeff Malet Photography

Monday, July 26, 1943

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

We finally get to hear about the Big WAVES 1 year anniversary party.  It looks like it went really well or else Grandma would have been more enthusiastic.  She barely reports on the dance/drill, saying only, "It came out swell and everyone clapped real hard."  No mention of the Admiral or anything.  She does mention that a squadron of 8 airplanes dove over the city in the WAVES honor.  That must have been somethin to see!

You know, there's always that running joke in 50s movies and TV shows where this undesirable guy asks a girl out, she denies him, and her excuse is, "I have to wash my hair."  I never understood the reality of this excuse until Grandma recounts her almost 15 minutes of local newspaper fame.  She misses a reporter coming into her barrack and taking photos of her and her bunkmate because she had to wash her hair.  "The man didn't come and didn't come and so I went and started washing my hair and just a soon as I did he came.  Marvel got her picture taken but I didn't.  I was surely mad."  What was the complicated process that took so long to wash your hair in the 40s and 50s?  Did shampoo come out of some magical spring under the earth?  Did riddle telling fairies guard the magical shampoo fountain?  And how do I get to know these fairies?  Please somebody explain these magical shampoo hoarding jerk fairies!!!!

But I digress...

WWII made the world such a small place.  Grandma ran into a Navy Ensign on the street in Miami and realized she had grown up with him in Missoula.  By the way, a Navy Ensign is a junior commissioned officer that usually goes straight to a warship.  So, she's going to, "get together...for a good old chat on Missoula."  Can you imagine being tossed to the wind like that?  Everything changes in a second and you don't know if you're ever going to a see a friendly face again.  Then you see a friendly face but maybe that friendly face gets shipped off to the Pacific and he could never be seen again.  You live in the moment in that world, but how do you ever go back to Civilian life?

This day in WWII history

Thursday, July 22, 1943

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Grandma was finally able to reach her family on the phone.  I know that sounds odd this day in age, but my Grandmother spent 6 hours trying to get a phone call from Miami, FL through to Missoula, Montana.  She tried to call them at 8:30 PM in Miami time, 6:30 PM Missoula time, but the call was not ale to go through.  So, she went out dancing with her date Pete, and tried again when she returned at 12:30 AM.  She fell asleep trying to connect the call and woke up at 2:30 AM.  She spoke to the operator about canceling the call, but the operator was optimistic so she tried one more time.  My Grandmother finally got through after 6 hours of trying!  Can you imagine in this time of great technology falling asleep waiting for a PHONE CALL to connect?!  I think the slowest technological advancement I ever dealt with was dial up internet.  The scary thing is, in several decades that statement is going to show my age.

Back in 1943, my Grandmother discusses the 1 year Anniversary party in more depth.  She's going to be in a dance with 11 other girls and they are going to perform in front of the Admiral.  She must be dreadfully nervous about it because then she starts to complain about all of her responsibilities.  She gets feisty when she's nervous.

I cannot imagine much of a mosquito population up in Montana.  Grandma talks about all of her Miami mosquito bites.  She says she has so many she looks like she has smallpox or something.  Thankfully she doesn't suffer alone.  "All of the girls were that way.  The minute we would get to the hotel and in the elevator we would start scratching and did it ever feel good."  It makes me think of a TV sketch show.  The WAVES start to barely scratch in the elevator and it quickly escalates, but when the elevator doors open to allow other passengers to board and disembark, they stop scratching and strike random poses.  Oh yes, and the scratching is accompanied by a full brass band that gathers other instruments as the scratching escalates.  I think that's how I want to view 1940s Miami.  I want to view it as one giant Military musical.

This day in WWII history

July 19, 1943: 5 days later

August 16, 2013

Grandma tells her friends latest news.  One gal got married on July 4th and another is expecting a baby. Little did my Grandmother know that in 7 years times she would give birth to a baby girl on the 4th of July.  My mother was born the same year as one of her cousins.  He was born on April 1st, and my Great Aunt Peggy and Uncle Sid sent my Grandparents a telegram saying, "It's a boy, no foolin'."  So, when my Mom was born, my Grandfather sent a telegram back stating, "It's a firecracker no wick!" I can hear their smoky chuckles now.

7 years in the past, my Grandmother is pitchin a fit.  She has to march in a parade tomorrow and it is still too hot to march!  AND she's also on the refreshment committee for the WAVES party.  How is she going to march and handle the punch at the WAVES one year anniversary party?! Please someone explain this to her!  However, she begrudgingly agrees to write more about the party.

Then Grandma addresses her Father for the first time in these letters.  I looked to the letter's envelope for clues, but I've realized I have no idea what Grandma and Grandpa Shannon's first names are! No clue whatsoever.  I know his initials are C.W. but that's it.  I know Grandma Shannon loved Wrestling at the Chase, but nope, her name completely escapes me.

Welp, Grandma continues telling my Great-Grandfather all about the military craft surrounding Miami.  She says there are no ocean liners, but plenty of Subchasers, Destroyers, and blimps.  She also says he needs to come down and see it for himself.  "You know I am planning on you coming down here."  It's those little sassy comments my Grandmother made when she tried to mask her deeper emotions.  Cover those up with sass and no one will notice.  Now I know where I get it from.

Oh! I did know one thing about him!  My Grandmother learned to drive a car at the age of 8 because of his health.  In case she had to go and fetch the doctor down the mountain.  Can you imagine what that first car ride would have been like?  Lots of sass and fits.

On this day in WWII history

July 14, 1943 - 6 months later

August 13, 2013

Again, who are these people?! I discovered who some of them are, but I still get thrown for a loop when I encounter some new name.  I mentioned Roy and Marilynn and who they were.  So, let me introduce you to the people I know in this cast of characters.

Margie and Ruth Zeh were dear family friends/distant cousins.  Red and Martha are Marilynn's brother and sister.  Oh! I was spot on about Billo!  He was Great Aunt Peggy's beaux at the time!  Apparently, I met him when I was tiny.  I don't remember a thing about the interaction but Mom said he was nice and gave me sweets.  Then there's Mrs. Timm who sent Grandma a diary and is also an old family friend in Montana.  Diaries were a big no-no in the service.  Diaries threaten state secrets!

Then there's this new cat named "Honey".  The quotations are mine not Grandma's. My Grandmother references him in connection with my Great Aunt Peg.  Grandma says they're coming to visit and she hopes "Honey" will wear his lemonade clothes.  The term is so entrancing compared to plain old yellow.  Lemonade brings memories of summers and sweltering nights.  The sweat dripping off of the cool glass onto a bare arm.  It makes me think that "Honey" prefers fedoras.

Grandma turns back to her naval duties as she recounts an embarrassing moment when the Duty Officer had her retrieve his dinner.  She says she was embarrassed by carrying the dinner tray down the street.  She even draws a picture!

If that is all it takes to embarrass my Grandmother then I am glad she missed out on the advent of Ke$ha!

Grandma closes her letter by wishing her mother a happy early birthday.   I did not know that my Great-Grandma Shannon shared a birthday month with my mother and I.  My Grandma says, "Someone will have to eat my piece of cake but I will eat it in my thoughts."  It's in those sentences that my Grandmother comes through and reminds me how little I truly knew of her.

On this day in WWII history

January 1, 1943: Welcome to the WAVES

August 12, 2013

I keep forgetting how drastically my Grandmother's life changed when she entered the service.  Her first letter feels shallow compared to this one.  She writes of her everyday life, but then she stops reporting and starts to tell of her worries and doubts that were brought to the surface by a lecture given the night before.

The lecturer addresses the separation anxiety the girls are experiencing.  She says,".. (that) Our folks were more than likely all sitting around talking about us being in the service and what not."  She mentions that many of the girls start to cry.  She didn't but she did, "... get a lump in her throat and had a hard time swallowing it."

These women left their families and often moved across the nation in service to their country.  My Grandmother was 21 years old!  In that decade, my Grandma should have been married with a child on her knee.  Instead she was off joining the war effort.  It wasn't unheard of, but it was completely different from what Grandma expected.  

She mentions a man named Roy in her letters.  I spoke with my Mother and discovered that Roy was my Grandmother's beaux in high school.  When he enlisted, he wouldn't commit to my Grandma and so she joined the WAVES.  Now, she met my Grandfather in the Navy so, I can't thank her enough for that.  But, a large part of me wonders did she join the Navy in an effort to escape her life in Montana?  Did everything remind her of him and she needed to get away?  In the end, My Grandmother made the right decision and found the love of her life.  Roy came back from the war and married my Grandma's best friend, Marilynn.  Isn't that a fine kettle of fish?

Although Grandma's heart was potentially broken and she joined the service to start a new life; it was where she wanted to be.  She says, "I'd hate to be put back in Civilian life until after the war." Grandma considers returning to civilian life as a step back and she only wants to move forward.  She doesn't want to miss out on the greatest possible adventure of her life.

On this day in WWII history

First Letter

August 9, 2013

After reading the first letter, I realize I am going to ask my Mom who all these people are.  My Grandmother is mentioning people named Billo, Loran, Red, and Eddie.  I have no clue who these people are!  I just want to know who allowed people to call them Billo for so long.  She mentions said Billo isn't going to Forsyth.

According to Mom, when Grandma references Forsyth she's talking about Forsyth, Montana. Since Grandma grew up in Missoula, Montana that sure does make a lot of sense! duhr.  In the 2010 census, the population totaled 1,777 people.  It was the first settlement on the Yellowstone river in 1876 as a steamboat landing for the US Army in the Indian Wars.  Sounds like this joint is hoppin!  No wonder my Grandmother said that my zany Great Aunt Peggy wouldn't be able to handle the "atmosphere" for a whole year.  I'm going to make the mental leap and guess Great Aunt Peggy was dating Ol' Billo over there.

Well, let's skootch right on back to the other side of the country where my Grandmother was stationed in Miami, FL.  I'm guessing growing up in Missoula did not prepare her for Miami's heat.  She said that now her "blood has thinned out" the heat does not make her as tired.  She also talks about getting her weekly visits to the beach and her tan. She's so proud of her tan that she wants to show it off in the middle of winter in Montana.  I must get that from her because it's a miracle if I tan so, I sure as heck show it off when I do.

Grandma Robinson's social life sure wasn't lacking in Miami.  She is asked out and goes on many dates, but lately she's had to turn people because of work.  She hasn't met any special beaux yet.  But she'll find Walter William Robinson soon enough!

On this day in WWII history

Letters Found

August 7, 2013

Letters crinkled in the heat of forty San Antonio summers.  Wrestlers at the Chase and glass eyed dolls shared the decades with them.  They waited in a cedar chest collecting dust and memories.  The letters remained hidden for forty years.  They were unearthed when my Great-Aunt's coffin snapped shut.  They were created when a woman answered the call to war.

Yeoman First Class Elizabeth "Betty" Jean Shannon enlisted as a WAVE (Women Accepted As Volunteer Emergency Service) in the Navy in 1942. She wrote 112 letters to her folks and her sister during her time in the war.  She tells of her training, her daily life, and her movements across the country.  She tells the story of how she met Walter "Bud" Robinson on a train to Miami and their eventual marriage.  Bud even writes a few letters home.

Betty was the best teeth whistler known to man and knew every phrase uttered during the 1940s.  Home again, home again, jiggity jig.  You could find the right buttons to push in about five seconds.  Pushing the right one would send her into a dither.  She loved to laugh and have fun.  But as we all know, life is not all fun and games.  She died when I was 14.  I am her only granddaughter.  I have never read her letters and I feel that I wasted my time with her on this earth as only an adolescent can.

So, in an effort to understand this enigmatic woman, I am reading all 112 letters in a year.  That averages about two letters a week, with a third sometimes thrown in for some weekly flavor.  I need to know who she was so that I might honor her memory and understand who I am because of her.

On this day in WWII history