Several years ago I read a book by YA author Annie
Laura Smith called
I never thought about those who might have worked in
similar ways in the U.S.—until I met Lou. Lou worked as a codebreaker in Washington,
D.C., during WWII and is one of the many “Rosie” women who contributed to the
war effort. In her nineties, she is a perky lady with a great sense of humor and
obviously a very bright woman. She worked with the Signal Corps and later
married a sailor who was a medic and was wounded as he rescued a friend at Iwo
Jima.
In talking about her work as a codebreaker, Lou said
that when she started the job she was told that “If you tell anyone, even where
you work, the penalty will be death. You will be put before the firing squad.”
When I heard her say this, I had wondered whether she might be exaggerating
until I read an article by David L. Boslaugh (Capt., USN, Retired) in which he
said that in his interviews with people who had been involved in post war
codebreaking computers, they were usually open about their work, but not when
he asked about World War II activities. Then he said, “It seems that a security
officer’s admonition, ‘If you ever talk about your work here we can have you
shot,’ was very effective” (
Like many other women (and men) who worked on the home
front during the war, Lou didn’t know the exact significance of her work, but
she had the sense that it was important. She says that her job was to “find the
unknown.” The workers, (all women, she
says), put the numbers into three different categories before giving their
results to the Sergeants, who then actually decoded the messages. You can learn
more about Lou’s story by visiting the Kennesaw University’s Museum of the
Holocaust, where they have what is called “The Legacy Series.” It is also on
line at
