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"Okay, Girls - Man Your Bunks!" Tales from the Life of a WWII Navy WAVE
A lively and compelling autobiography of one of the first enlisted Navy WAVES in WWII. From joining the Navy to joining the mile-high club, Helen Gilbert's life was interrupted and forever changed by Pearl Harbor, and she describes in very straightforward terms how it was to enter a traditionally male world. After serving her country, she struggled to find work and gain acceptance as an emancipated woman in a rapidly-changing world - weathering discrimination, marriage, child-rearing, tragedy, infidelity, alcoholism and recovery. Whether recalling the Depression, WWII, or sharing her thoughts on the aftermath of Sept. 11th and the war in Iraq, Helen pulls no punches. A book chock-full of eyebrow-raising anecdotes and life-affirming stories.
- GenresWorld War II
157 pages, Paperback
First published July 28, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 1, 2020
There is a certain authentic voice in autobiographies by people whose claim to our attention is not their skills as a author, but their experience in living their lives. Across her brief autobiography, Okay, Girls-Man your Bunks! Author Helen Gilbert has that voice.
She grew up in the depression years, qualifying her as a member of the “Greatest Generation”. Her book tells us she was less like a greatest anyone, but a person. Depression years it was and there were times when she lived in a lot less comfortably than others. She had to wash out of a bucket, surviving with just enough cover from the cold; always this side of the physical survival. The real competition in her life was for the emotional support from her mother. Ms Gilbert did not always win that competition and that more than poverty is the first of the real burdens she chooses to share with us.
Her decision to join the Navy as one of the first 91 women accepted into the newly formed WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was clearly based on a sincere desire to Do Something in the reply to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Arriving at her basic training, the Navy, or more exactly the Us Navy Reserve did not yet have uniforms for them. The title of the book came from a daily joke by the men who would used that expression every night at lights out. The standard expression announcing lights out, or the morning call for sweepers remained “Man your Bunks, and “Man your Brooms”, 30 years later when I was in service aboard ship. What it is now that women serve in all parts of the Navy, I do not know. For a while we tried “Crew your Brooms”, but if you try that you may also hear how that does not represent a real improvement.
Completing the thought: It was 1978, while I was in commission that the USN Navy finally ended the use of the term WAVES and admitting that the Women who chose to serve were not “auxiliaries” and need not be restricted to the Reserves. The reality was formally admitted and the terms WAVES was ended and the women of the Navy were completed integrated into the US Navy.
Having completed her Basic, an in uniform she was accepted on fairly thin qualification, into school to become a Radioman. She would learn Morse code and message formatting and something about encoding and de-coding. Her service was entirely stateside and at Naval Air Stations. She would live in barracks. Much of her daily life made of her sister WAVES the same kinds of friendship upon which all people in uniform come to depend. Very quickly those inside the world of uniforms make the bonds that rarely make sense to those not in uniform.
Being a woman, her status as an enlisted woman was not the same barrier as was the case for most enlisted men. There were always officers and pilot trainees who could ignore the official rules against fraternizing. How quickly and completely her dating life became a whorl of on and off base romances with those who should have been above her was so natural and common she never mentions even the chance this was not approved behavior.
Ms. Gilbert is very candid about her and her closest friend. They became known as trouble makers, if only in the sense of being high spirited and willing sail close to the rules an on regular occasions just that side of the lines. Her admission to the Mile-High Club on a less than approved flight in a Navy Patrol Plane (PBY Catalina) is a matter of comment among several other reviewers. What struck me was her near boast that she had a reputation for being “Round Heeled”. A term I never expected a woman apply to herself, never mind to brag about.
After again shading the rules, getting herself and her friend “legally” separated from the service these two wormed their way into government civilian service as airport radio operators. She wins the love of a pilot and begins a new adventure as a working wife.
While creating a family and frequently moving about the country and a 6-month stint in Japan Ms Gilbert tells us of her time fighting her battle with alcoholism. She is as honest with us about this dark time as she had been with her wartime sexual escapades. She shares exactly how badly she had lied while a victim to that disease and how many times she failed under its demands. She is forthright in telling us about hiding bottles and conning her way though driving accidents and ignoring the warning that even jail time should have been. Ultimately her loyal husband and several good people got her to see she was sick and that the most she would be able to do is recognize that being sober would be an everyday suppression of that disease.
The end of her book finds us with an 82-year-old woman, at peace with herself. She is ready to share her story. It is a story we can read knowing it is the honest story of a woman worth knowing. This is not
She grew up in the depression years, qualifying her as a member of the “Greatest Generation”. Her book tells us she was less like a greatest anyone, but a person. Depression years it was and there were times when she lived in a lot less comfortably than others. She had to wash out of a bucket, surviving with just enough cover from the cold; always this side of the physical survival. The real competition in her life was for the emotional support from her mother. Ms Gilbert did not always win that competition and that more than poverty is the first of the real burdens she chooses to share with us.
Her decision to join the Navy as one of the first 91 women accepted into the newly formed WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) was clearly based on a sincere desire to Do Something in the reply to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Arriving at her basic training, the Navy, or more exactly the Us Navy Reserve did not yet have uniforms for them. The title of the book came from a daily joke by the men who would used that expression every night at lights out. The standard expression announcing lights out, or the morning call for sweepers remained “Man your Bunks, and “Man your Brooms”, 30 years later when I was in service aboard ship. What it is now that women serve in all parts of the Navy, I do not know. For a while we tried “Crew your Brooms”, but if you try that you may also hear how that does not represent a real improvement.
Completing the thought: It was 1978, while I was in commission that the USN Navy finally ended the use of the term WAVES and admitting that the Women who chose to serve were not “auxiliaries” and need not be restricted to the Reserves. The reality was formally admitted and the terms WAVES was ended and the women of the Navy were completed integrated into the US Navy.
Having completed her Basic, an in uniform she was accepted on fairly thin qualification, into school to become a Radioman. She would learn Morse code and message formatting and something about encoding and de-coding. Her service was entirely stateside and at Naval Air Stations. She would live in barracks. Much of her daily life made of her sister WAVES the same kinds of friendship upon which all people in uniform come to depend. Very quickly those inside the world of uniforms make the bonds that rarely make sense to those not in uniform.
Being a woman, her status as an enlisted woman was not the same barrier as was the case for most enlisted men. There were always officers and pilot trainees who could ignore the official rules against fraternizing. How quickly and completely her dating life became a whorl of on and off base romances with those who should have been above her was so natural and common she never mentions even the chance this was not approved behavior.
Ms. Gilbert is very candid about her and her closest friend. They became known as trouble makers, if only in the sense of being high spirited and willing sail close to the rules an on regular occasions just that side of the lines. Her admission to the Mile-High Club on a less than approved flight in a Navy Patrol Plane (PBY Catalina) is a matter of comment among several other reviewers. What struck me was her near boast that she had a reputation for being “Round Heeled”. A term I never expected a woman apply to herself, never mind to brag about.
After again shading the rules, getting herself and her friend “legally” separated from the service these two wormed their way into government civilian service as airport radio operators. She wins the love of a pilot and begins a new adventure as a working wife.
While creating a family and frequently moving about the country and a 6-month stint in Japan Ms Gilbert tells us of her time fighting her battle with alcoholism. She is as honest with us about this dark time as she had been with her wartime sexual escapades. She shares exactly how badly she had lied while a victim to that disease and how many times she failed under its demands. She is forthright in telling us about hiding bottles and conning her way though driving accidents and ignoring the warning that even jail time should have been. Ultimately her loyal husband and several good people got her to see she was sick and that the most she would be able to do is recognize that being sober would be an everyday suppression of that disease.
The end of her book finds us with an 82-year-old woman, at peace with herself. She is ready to share her story. It is a story we can read knowing it is the honest story of a woman worth knowing. This is not
January 21, 2010
Hard to believe this book was written by an 86-year-old woman. It would be excellent required reading for high school students, to give them a clear understanding of not only the WAVES, but of the state of mind of young Americans at that time. Also, it would convince them that there truly is nothing new under the sun and that they aren’t the first generation to try risky, wild behavior. In fact, I can see some parents objecting to some of the content. Excellent, amazing story.
June 20, 2014
A complete delight of a memoir, in which Helen tells the story of her life with little sections here and there about her views on various topics. The middle is devoted to her time as a WAVE during WWII, and all the escapades she and her friends got up to while serving. Helen reveals all, even when it does not reflect well on her. A refreshing read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews