Honest opinions, please? If this sucks, please say so!!! Absolutely no offense taken! The conference room was filled with painstakingly ironed dark blue navy skirts and gold buttoned jackets, neat slick pulled back hair, and row after row of anxious pairs of eyes. “Now.” Commander Stevens, who had an erect posture and an Eleanor Roosevelt voice above a pair of stalwart bosoms, looked up from her roster. “Cadets, based upon the tests you have completed, we will be assigning you the various duties and positions you shall perform during your service in the navy, to lend support to our heroic soldiers and defeat the Nazi scourge in this long and bitter war. It is important to remember that no duty is more menial or less crucial than any others, and you shall take pride and perform to your utmost abilities in whatever duties you are assigned.” Long pause. “The first duty is the cleaning and maintenance of our brave soldiers’ barracks and latrines.” Oh, Lord. No. No. Please, no. Please. Please. I will do anything. I will be a saint. I will never have one impure thought about our brave soldiers again as long as I don’t have to scrub their latrines. She came to the end of the list, paused for what felt like an eternity, and read the final name, “Marjorie Willis.” Oh, Lord. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The next jobs were kitchen duties. Not quite as bad, but close. Thankfully my name was absent from this roster as well. Soon came the secretarial jobs, which grew more and more interesting. By the final roster I was listening eagerly, dreaming of being a general’s secretary, typing war correspondence to Congress, maybe even the President! Then her voice stopped and the room grew still. Every other cadet from the Waves was in a group designated for her duties. I sat alone in the center of the room. I felt my face flush red and fought tears that threatened to erupt. I had failed. I would have to slink back to Van Wert in disgrace. I thought of Lester, the boy who accused me of thinking I was too good to marry him when I turned down his proposal. I pictured that face of his smirking at my failure. I pictured our preacher, his sermon on my last day at home vehement and uncompromising as he preached loudly against girls like me joining the navy. According to him, the Lord never intended women to serve in the military Girls who joined the military had not joined to fight for our country, but simply for the opportunity to get away from home and engage in immoral acts with soldiers. The Waves, the womens’ branch of the Navy, was nothing but Sodom and Gomorrah headquartered in Washington D.C. I sat in church that day with chin raised and arms crossed defiantly as my mother scrunched her shoulders and bent her head and pretended to study her Bible. How could I ever face church again? “Georgia.” I looked up and jumped as I saw Captain Stevens, looming above me. “Follow me.” Fighting back tears, I followed her to a tiny enclosed room as the other cadets’ eyes followed me. She shut the door and waved her hand toward a chair, and obediently I sat. The silence in the room was screaming. “Have you had any college or secretarial training?” Captain Stevens asked abruptly I looked at her blankly. Where on earth would I get money for college or secretarial school? “Uh, no.” “Well, your scores are extraordinary.” I gulped. “For this reason, you are the only cadet from this section who will be assigned to work there.” She pointed out the window at a tall, gray impregnable building surrounded by armed guards. “Uh, what will I be doing?” Please, no latrines. “Codebreaking.”
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 02:51:17 +0000
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