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First women in the "Regular Navy"


Bob Hudson
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This is part of a small grouping from one of the first six women in Southern California to join the "Regular Navy" after the Women's Armed Services Integration Act (Public Law 625) was signed into law in 1948, allowing women to serve in the regular Navy.

 

The is the first time I've come across a "WAVES" named Good Conduct Medal (I think WAVES stayed in the Navy lingo long after 1948). Were WWII WAVES even eligible for it and could they get it without doing a full three or four-year enlistment?

 

The newspaper article I found online.

 

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US Navy GCM required 4 years honorable service and no marks on Evaluations below 3.0 until late in the 1990s. Any lady who had served as a WAVE in WW2, and then subsequently reenlisted in the regular Navy after 1948 would have any Honoranle time served in a previous enlistment count towards a GCM. For example, if a lady enlisted in January 1943 and then was discharged in January 1946, she would have 3 years service credit. If she then reenlisted 1948, by January 1949, she would have 4 years service, and be eligible for s GCM and a hash mark. Did that make sense?

 

And yes, women were refered to as Waves well into the 1980s when the Navy came out and got serious about Not using that term

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Found this photo in her effects: the railroad took it of her and some of the other new recruits mentioned in the copy of the newspaper article. The back is signed like a school yearbook.

 

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Their recruit platoon at Great Lakes (it always looks cold there):

 

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Lots of photos and insignia, plus some old letters from suitors. Her distant cousin sold me this. A huge amount of this sailor's uniforms, insignia, military shoes, war time letters, etc were sold at an appointment only estate sale near Beverly Hills a while back. The items sold to me had somehow escaped that sale and just resurfaced in the cousin's attic.

 

She enlisted in 1948 and got her Good Conduct Medal in three - not the expected four - years laters. As noted in the post above, she must have done a year of servece before 1948 to give her a GCM in 1951. The cousin kept talking about her being in World War II but I imagine anything related to any earlier service was cast to the four winds during the estate sale.

 

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