Her experiences as a member of the WAVES during World War II. Youth and education in Elgin, Illinois; effects of Great Depression on Elgin and her family; community attitudes toward roles of women; high school education at Elgin Academy; brief college career at Bradley University and the University of Iowa; actuarial work in Chicago; bookkeeping work in Fresno, California, 1942; family debate concerning internationalism versus the America First Committee; shock of the Pearl Harbor attack; decision to join WAVES and process of enlisting, September, 1942; radio school at Madison, Wisconsin; assignment to Naval Intelligence, Washington, D.C., 1943; breaking German submarine codes; working with Enigma; dealing with permutations and mathematical equations; lodging and eating arrangements; social life; transfer to Dayton, Ohio, and security arrangements; German Bund; continuation of work with Enigma in Dayton at National Cash Register plant; construction of code-breaking computers; moving the computers from Dayton to Washington; using the new computers in breaking codes; Officers Candidate School, Northampton, Massachusetts, January, 1944; transfer back to Naval Intelligence in Washington, 1944; job-related stress; her sense of accomplishment and contributions to the war effort; adjustments to civilian life; lasting effects of her experience in the WAVES.