Washington, D.C.

 

            After boot camp the new Waves were sent to Washington, DC, where they underwent aptitude testing.

            “I think we were there for about eight weeks.” says Elaine MacIntyre.  “For a period of time we were housed (I think) in W.A.V.E. quarters ‘D’, Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues, and spent our days in the chapel, which was part of the Communications Annex across the street, taking all kinds of tests, mostly decoding tests, and I guess some mechanical tests (on paper).”

            "You'd take a test to see if you've got two brains, or whatever." says Evelyn Einfeldt.  "I wanted to be an airplane mechanic.  I thought, boy, that's glamorous.  That's what I'm going to do, fix airplanes.'"

            While the Waves took tests, the government ran a background check on the women.

            "They sent someone to my home town to check on me." says Evelyn Nickel Burbacher.  "They interviewed three different people."

            A select contingent of Waves was told that they had been chosen to work on a special project. 

            "We were not told where we were going or anything about it." says Sue Eskey.  "We were told to pack our bags, we were leaving in the morning."

            "Next thing I knew, we were on a train with sleeping compartments." says Evelyn MacIntyre.  "What fun that was.  I had never been on a train where one slept and ate meals, only on a train from Chester, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia to see Santa.  We were guarded and looked after very closely."

            The train trip was made on secondary lines, since all of the main tracks were reserved for troop movements.

            “Accommodations were by coach.” says Mary Lavettre.  “I recall trying to get comfortable, sitting up the entire time, trying to sleep.”

            Betty Bemis Robarts thought she knew where they might be headed.  She had been asked if she wanted to go out west.

            "I said yes!"

              She was quite surprised when the train pulled into the depot and saw that she had arrived in Dayton, Ohio.

            "I guess they thought Ohio was west.  I was really thinking California."

            She wasn't the only one who was surprised.

            "When we arrived in Dayton I thought, Dayton, well, it isn't even on the ocean." says Evelyn Einfeldt.  "But it was heaven after boot camp."

            What was so special about Dayton that, before the end of World War II, over six hundred Waves would be stationed there?

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