Untitled - Quarter Century Wireless Association

Silver BeIIes
By: Carol King K5CPZ, hesident Chapter 63, P. O. Box 73, Oklahoma City, OK 73101
Before discussing our featured YL, I
would like to thank those of you who
were so kind as to submit comments
concerning this column. I value your
input and I will do my best to
implement your wishes with
reference to the material on YLs.
The original title of the
column caused quite a "hum" of
QRM! I was gratified to learn,
though, that the column was at least
read. Because I did not have
rufficient time to work on a title for the column, I did not submit
o title. Consequently, I regret that I cannot take credit for the
column's original title which created such a variety of
comments. I can, however, accept full responsibility for "Silver
Belles." I/you would like to suggest another title, we would be
delighted to hearfrom you.
If you would prefer to dispense with a YL column of
this kind for your lournal, please let us know. Omitting this
column would neither alfect my salary nor cause hard feelings.
Because this is vour Jowal, I am interested in hearing from
you.
Again, thank ysu for sharing your ideas, and please
accept my best wishes to each ofyou. 33s to the ladies and 73s
to the guys, de Carol King, KSCPZ.
Esther Given, W6BDE, is our featured YL for this
issue. When you have read about her accomplishments, her
dedication, and her contributions to ham radio and humanity,
you will have a great deal of appreciation for this very special
YL.
According to Esther, her childhood wasn't all that
unusual. She was born in 19ll in New Jersey, but her family
soon moved to the Denver area where she received her
education. Because she had the experiences of an only child,
sibling rivalry was never an issue for this YL.
In W.W.[, when the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
(WAAC) was organized, Esther volunteered for the challenge of
proving that a woman could handle a military assignment. In
1942 she passed the aptitude test which enabled her to serve in
the area ofradio personnel.
Esther received her basic military training at Ft. Des
Moines, Iowa, which was then the only basic training school for
WAACS.
In November 1942 she and her crew traveled by train
from Iowa to Kansas City, Missouri for training in military
radio communication. The group of two commanding offtcers
and 100 WAACs paraded a mile in the rain from the railroad
station to their new assignment as students in the Midland
Radio School.
The training period lasted for 13 weeks. Esther and her
crew received intensive training in international Morse code,
U.S. military operating procedures and basic electronics of the
day. The WAAC gunea pigs set outstanding records in
exceeding the expectations ofthe school..
During W.W.[, military radio communications were
sent in Morse code consisting of five letter code groups which
had to be decoded to be understood. Military operators acquired
a rhythm that let them know when the five letters of a code
group had been received.
While in training in Kansas City, the trainees were
visited by Eleanor Roosevelt, who took a sincere interest in their
activities, accomplishments and achievements. According to
Esther, everyone loved Eleanor Roosevelt and she received a
grade of 1000 percent for the interest she showed the WAACs.
Esther was one of the top three women in the class.
The Morse code requirement for grcduation from the school was
to copy 2l WPM. Esther, however, graduated with the ability to
copy five-letter code groups at the qpeed of 25.2 WPM.
Upon graduation, she was stationed at the following
locations: She was first stationed in Washington, DC, as a radio
operator in the anti-aircraft command at Camp Simms.
Additional assignments at the nation's capital included Bowling
Field and a six month assignment as a radio operator at station
WAR at the Pentagon. She then served a s€ven month
assignment as a radio operator at the anti-aircraft firing range at
Camp Stewart Georgia.
It was interesting to note tlnt during the war, the Army
actually had more ships than the Naly. All Army personnel and
supplies had to be transported by sea. The crews aboard Army
vessels were civilians and the ships' officers were Naval
Reserves. Navy vessels, other than hospital ships, were either
for fighting the war or for moving naval supplies.
During and immediately after W.W.[ the only
available transportation for wounded or ill military personnel
who were overseas was via hospital ships. Airplanes were for
fighting or reconnaissance.
By international law, hospital vessels traveled under
the Geneva Treaty; so they were unarmed, nontombatant, fully
lighted at night and transacted all their communications in
plain English. Because radar was considered to be a weapon, it
was not available to hospital ships. In essen@, these ships were
the same as ships of a neutral country.
Radio operators on hospital ships during the war were
all enlisted personnel. The Army was strongly considering the
possibility of assigning WACs as radio operators aboard Army
hospital ships. WACs were ideally suited for this type of
assignment because of the ships' non-combatant status and
because other women were also aboard, serving as nurses and
Red Cross workers.
39 Spring 1994