I had the opportunity to meet Margaret Smith White this May. When she enlisted, Margaret was a carefree twenty year old looking for an opportunity to get an education, to do something more exciting that take a job in her hometown, and assist in the war effort . She enlisted in October 1943, as soon as she was eligible, and went to Boot Camp in December of that year. At the end of her service period in 1944 she was First Class Yeomen Waves. Margaret traveled around the United States to get her training, but most of her time was spent in Arlington, Virginia, where she helped sort through and place men at the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Perhaps her wartime experience is best summarized in a phrase she used continuously through her interview, “It was fun, but you had to be young!”

Adventures on the Home Front: Enjoying Youth

“Thank-you!” Margaret and Ruth said to Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, as they squeezed out of the small 1940 Chevy Deluxe.

“Any time ladies! Good luck getting to Pennsylvania!” shouted the driver as he made a U-turn and started back down the route.

From the back window of the car, one of the children saluted the girls.

Margaret laughed and returned the salute. Her eyes twinkled.

“Halfway there!” Ruth said enthusiastically as she trekked down the road.

Margaret removed her cap and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She fidgeted as she fixed her skirt. “Do you think it’s possible to pick a material any less suited for hot weather?” Margaret asked as she pulled her calf length blue skirt from her sweaty legs.

The two girls laughed at one another. They didn’t care about their skirts; they were just glad to be on vacation. Their small pay from the Bureau of Naval Personnel, and their sense of adventure brought them from Arlington, and now they were on their way to Pennsylvania. If you asked Margaret if she thought it was crazy to climb into cars with perfect strangers to get to Ruth Porter’s home town, she would laugh. To her, it was part of being young. They were ready for a long, relaxing weekend, and they would get there any way possible.

The two twenty-one-year-olds had been in and out of at least three different cars, mostly driven by families out for the day. They had been asked countless questions, and Margaret found herself jabbering all day about her family in Hartford, the barracks in Arlington, the socials at nearby bases, and the cafeteria food at boot camp.

“Hey! This one’s slowing down!” Ruth yelled to Margaret.

They waved at the car, and called “Hello!” to the woman in the passenger seat as she rolled down her window. The driver said they were going right through the town where Ruth lived, which was perfect.

The girls squeezed into the backseat where two children were sleeping. As Ruth talked with the parents, Margaret thought about how her morning was. She woke and jumped down from her top bunk. She got her clothes together and pulled her stockings off of the line that hung across her bedroom. On her way to the shower rooms down the long corridor, her friend, Ruth, asked her to come visit her family in Pennsylvania. Margaret had quickly showered, dressed, eat, and the two of them took off on their spur of the moment adventure.

After making small talk with the family and sharing a cold lunch, the girls were dropped off at the end of the highway exit closest to Ruth’s house. Margaret followed Ruth through a neighborhood with small box houses, freshly manicured lawns, and long gray sidewalks.

“It’s right here up the street two houses,” Ruth said to Margaret. She skipped to her small white house.

When Margaret walked in the heat of hot kitchen hit her face. The living room was small and cozy and it was positioned next to the kitchen. Inside their was an enormous round kitchen table, buried under a stack of newspapers and children's toys. A women of about 25 was clearing the table, and another was fixing dinner.

“Elizabeth, will you put those mashed potatoes in this bowl?” Mrs. Porter called from the floor. She was rummaging around in the lower cabinet, clanking pots and pans.

“Sure thing,” returned Elizabeth. She reached across the kitchen to get the bowl.

Three children were running around in the house, it was they who first saw Ruth.

“Ruth!” yelled the children who fought for her attention.

Margaret was bombarded with hand shakes and “Welcomes” and Ruth was smothered in hugs and kissed.

“Margaret, this is my sister Elizabeth, I call her Sibby, my nephew, my niece, their friend, and my mother Mrs. Porter.”

Quickly they were all seated at the noisiest dinner table Margaret had ever eaten at. Everyone yelled for the butter, talked over one another, and argued about what the weather tomorrow was suppose to look like. The girls told the story of how they’d gotten home, which was met with roars of laughter, and spoke of their jobs in Arlington. They talked about the night clubs and the restaurants in Washington D.C., and Margaret shared her photo album. By the time the girls got upstairs to Ruth’s bedroom, the girls were exhausted.

They quickly dressed in their nightclothes, and Margaret snuggled down into her bed of comforters and mismatched sheets.

“Hey, Margaret, when do you have to be back?” asked Ruth from her bed.

“Oh, in a few days.”

“Hmmm...”

“What?”

“Well, I think I would like to stay I little longer.”

Margaret laughed, “Well how am I going to get back then?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ruth answered slyly.

“What?” probed Margaret.

“My Aunt’s friend’s son’s best friend is a pilot. You could see if he would give you a private ride.”

“Sounds like an adventure” Margaret answered with a giggle.

Her eyes twinkled, and they both laughed.