Jaenn Coz Bailey Collection
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Four WAVES laughing
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Jaenn Coz Bailey (second from right) and three fellow WAVES have a hearty laugh while standing beside a residential street, circa 1945.
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Oral history interview with Jaenn Bailey
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Primarily documents Bailey's childhood, family, and service with the U.S. Navy WAVES working with top secret messages during World War II. Bailey discusses the origins of her name; her mother's independent lifestyle during her childhood in the Roaring Twenties; and her Native American heritage. " Bailey also talks about many topics related to World War II and her service with the WAVES from 1944 to 1946, including hearing about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, treatment of Japanese Americans, and being accepted into military service even though she did not meet all of the requirements. " Bailey describes adjusting to basic training and military life; her social life in New York and Washington, D.C.; and her top secret work decoding and filing messages. Specific topics include the weather and training in basic training; seeing Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, and Eartha Kitt perform; visiting clubs and museums; her living arrangements in Washington; how well she was treated by her commander; delivering messages directly to Presidents Roosevelt and Truman at the White House; Roosevelt's death; knowing war information before it was released to the public; the murder of three Coast Guard SPARS in Arlington, Virginia; and the degrading treatment of pregnant WAVES. " Personal topics include meeting her husband; her husband's military experiences and their time at Chapel Hill in the late 1940s; her son's service in and injuries from the Vietnam War; and her opinion of women in combat positions.
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WAVES marching in formation
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WAVES marching in formation, circa 1944. The unit is wearing the WAVES blue service dress uniform and service cap. The female officer (signaled by her gold buttons) leading the formation wears the WAVES blue double breasted overcoat.
