Honor Guard to President Roosevelt
October 2, 2008 – 6:00 amIn 1939 May had been visiting in England for six months when war broke out, making it impossible for her to return to the States. So she settled into life in England, doing home nursing and assisting in First Aid courses. She found the spirit of the English people wonderful and positive, so sure they would come out on top.
May was so caught up in life in England, she wanted to join the Royal Naval Service. However the U.S. consul told her she would lose her American citizenship if she did. Instead, she returned home with the consul’s family, and many other consuls’ families on the ship Washington.
May lived in Hampton Bay with her parents for one year, as she continued her interest in England’s war effort. She sold clam chowder for British War Relief and worked on Bundles for Britain. She also recalls going to dances at Fort Dix, New Jersey to help entertain our troops.
Six months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorized the WAVES. May joined and received her boot training at a college in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She recalls receiving $120 from the pay officer, only to be relieved of $100 in the next room. That money was used to pay for her uniform. As with Navy uniforms, the three stripes represent three victories of Lord Nelson at the Nile, at Copenhagen, and at Trafalgar.
May was chosen to go to school at Atlanta, Georgia, to become a Link Trainer instructor. Following that, she went to Corpus Christi, Texas as a Specialist T 3rd class. When President Roosevelt and the President of Mexico met in Corpus Christi, May was in the honor guard, wearing her dress blues and white shirts, black tie, and a little cotton hat with a white top.
May’s career in the WAVES continued at Beeville, Texas where she taught instrument flying. Then to O.C.S. at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she received her commission as an Ensign. She was assigned to an instrument squadron at Whiting Field at Pensacola, Florida, where she remained until her discharge in November of 1945.
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