Primarily documents Myrtle Otto Hanke's early life and her experiences in the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) in Washington, D.C., during World War II." Hanke discusses her family, education, and work in Massachusetts before the war, as well as her reaction to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and her reasons for joining the U.S. Navy WAVES, and her father's initial reaction." Topics related to Hanke's career as a WAVE include the train ride to basic training in Iowa; living conditions, activities, and weather; and tests to determine aptitude for various kinds of work. She also describes her experience in Washington, D.C., including working in shifts; her roommates, including Virginia Darling; the cryptography office; leaning over a hectograph and getting a top secret message stamped onto her shirt; a WAVE officer who harassed her; V-J Day celebrations and the social life, including parties and nightclubs, the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt; her opinions of the Roosevelts and Harry Truman; and hitchhiking to California. " Hanke also details her family heritage; her father's career as a painter; housing an English family during World War II; having dinner on the USS New Mexico; her world travels, including trips to Russia, Morocco, and Germany; her belief that everyone should serve in the military for two years; and differences between Episcopalian and Catholic religions.