Introductory caption released with the original print for Photo # NH 97533:
"Eighty Six Thousand WAVES celebrate Third Anniversary" "Having surpassed the aims of its most optimistic proponents to date, the Navy's Women's Reserve, totaling approximately 86,000 WAVES on the eve of its third anniversary, July 30, 1945, looks forward to even greater achievements in the coming year. WAVES now compose 18 percent of the total Naval personnel assigned to shore establishments. They now fill 38 enlisted ratings and a wide variety of both line and officer assignments. As the war goes into its final phase, the need for more men at sea brings a corresponding need for more shore replacements by the Women's Reserve. This series of pictures shows a few of the ways this organization is replacing men released for duty on the fighting front." |
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6 March 2001