IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1388 
Acknowledging and commemorating the World War II women in the Navy 
who served in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service 
(‘‘WAVES’’). 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 
Mrs. LURIA (for herself, Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. GARCIA of California, and Ms. 
HOULAHAN) 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, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the 
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (re-
ferred to in this preamble as ‘‘WAVES’’) on July 30, 
1942, when he signed the Act of July 30, 1942 (56 Stat. 
730, chapter 538) into law; 
Whereas, despite social stigmas and public opinion averse to 
women in uniform, women applied for WAVES in such 
numbers that enrollment ceilings were reached within the 
first several years; 
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•HRES 1388 IH 
Whereas, while women had served in the enlisted ranks of the 
Navy in a variety of positions during World War I, legis-
lation 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 du-
ties; 
Whereas, under the direction of Lieutenant Commander 
(later Captain) Mildred Helen McAfee, the WAVES 
peaked in 1945 at nearly 80,000 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 
73,816 enlisted WAVES serving in the spring of 1945; 
Whereas the WAVES worked at large and small naval com-
mands 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 phar-
macist, 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 avi-
ators, gunners, and navigators destined for combat units; 
Whereas the WAVES who served in naval aviation taught in-
strument flying, aircraft recognition, celestial navigation, 
aircraft gunnery, radio, radar, air combat information, 
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•HRES 1388 IH 
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 capac-
ities, 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 ef-
fort, were not given status equal to their male counter-
parts, 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, demo-
graphic, 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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