III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 419 

Acknowledging and commemorating the World War II women in the Navy 

who served in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service 

(‘‘WAVES’’). 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 7, 2021 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. OSSOFF, 

Mr. WYDEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. 

SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. MORAN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Acknowledging and commemorating the World War II women 

in the Navy who served in the Women Accepted for 

Volunteer Emergency Service (‘‘WAVES’’). 

Whereas, despite social stigmas and public opinion averse to 

women in uniform, women applied for military service in 

such numbers that enrollment ceilings were reached within the first several years; 

Whereas, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the 

Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘WAVES’’) on July 30, 

1942, when he signed the Navy Women’s Reserve Act 

(Public Law 77–538; 56 Stat. 730) into law; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
2 

•SRES 419 IS 

Whereas, while women had served in the enlisted ranks of the 

Navy in a variety of positions during World War I, legislation passed after World War I limited women to service 

as nurses until the creation of the WAVES; 

Whereas, during World War II, women in the United States 

were recruited into the Armed Forces to perform military 

assignments so that men could be freed for combat duties; 

Whereas, under the direction of Lieutenant Commander 

(later Captain) Mildred Helen McAfee, the WAVES 

peaked in 1945 at nearly 83,000 officers and enlisted 

personnel, or approximately 2.5 percent of the wartime 

strength of the Navy and was composed of women from 

urban and rural communities across many socioeconomic 

backgrounds; 

Whereas, the Secretary of the Navy’s Annual Report Fiscal 

Year 1945 stated that there were 8,475 officers and 

74,497 enlisted WAVES serving in the spring of 1945; 

Whereas the WAVES worked at large and small naval commands from Florida to Washington and from California 

to Rhode Island, as well as overseas; 

Whereas the WAVES numerous and diverse contributions 

ranged from yeoman, chauffeur, and baker to pharmacist, artist, aircraft mechanic, and dental hygienist; 

Whereas, during World War II, WAVES served as training 

instructors throughout the country for newly recruited 

WAVES as well as thousands of aspiring male naval aviators, gunners, and navigators destined for combat units; 

Whereas the WAVES who served in naval aviation taught instrument flying, aircraft recognition, celestial navigation, 

aircraft gunnery, radio, radar, air combat information, 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
3 

•SRES 419 IS 

and air fighter administration but were not allowed to be 

pilots; 

Whereas the WAVES served the Navy in such numbers that, 

according to a Navy estimate, enough men were freed for 

combat duty to crew the ships of 4 major task forces, 

each including a battleship, 2 large aircraft carriers, 2 

heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, and 15 destroyers; 

Whereas, at the end of World War II, Secretary of the Navy 

James Forrestal stated that members of the WAVES 

‘‘have exceeded performance of men in certain types of 

work, and the Navy Department considers it to be very 

desirable that these important services rendered by 

women during the war should likewise be available in 

postwar years ahead’’; 

Whereas, by the end of World War II, more than 400,000 

women had served the United States in military capacities, with every Navy aviator who entered combat having 

received some part of his training from a WAVE; 

Whereas the WAVES, despite their merit and the recognized 

value and importance of their contributions to the war effort, were not given status equal to their male counterparts, and struggled for years to receive the appreciation 

of Congress and the people of the United States; 

Whereas the WAVES helped to catalyze the social, demographic, and economic evolutions that occurred in the 

1960s and 1970s and continue to this day; and 

Whereas the pioneering women who served in the WAVES 

are owed a great debt of gratitude for their service to the 

United States: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS
4 

•SRES 419 IS 

1 (1) honors the women who served the United 

2 States in the Navy Women Accepted for Voluntary 

3 Emergency Service (‘‘WAVES’’) during World War 

4 II; 

5 (2) commends the WAVES who, through a 

6 sense of duty and willingness to defy stereotypes and 

7 social pressures, performed military assignments to 

8 aid the war effort, with the result that men were 

9 freed for combat duties; and 

10 (3) recognizes that the WAVES, by serving 

11 with diligence and merit, not only opened up oppor12 tunities for women that had previously been reserved 

13 for men, but also contributed vitally to the victory 

14 of the United States and the Allies in World War II. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS