The Central Florida Navy Waves want you. Specifically the Navy Waves who went through boot camp at Bainbridge in Port Deposit Maryland want you. They have formed a social group that meets monthly and are in the process of planning their second reunion and want to let all former Bainbridge Waves know they are here and going strong.
Currently, the Central Florida group has 35 members. Fourteen of them met recently for lunch at member Joan Suelter’s home in the Village of Gilchrist. Memories of a time gone by and the common thread that pulls this group together flowed abundantly.
Bainbridge served as a boot camp training facility from 1952 -1972. Most of the women in the group went through Bainbridge in the 1960s and many remembered wanting to join the Navy since their junior high school days for reasons as lofty as wanting to serve God and country to as practical as deciding that the Navy had the best looking uniforms.
Joining the Waves was always voluntary even during the Vietnam era. Unlike the men who were drafted, ‘the Ladies’ as they were always called while in the Navy had to have written permission from their fathers.
Boot Camp was 10 weeks and very different from today. The recruits were trained by an all-female staff and forbidden to talk to any of the men on the base. They were told the men were “trees” and to walk on by. Cindy Cooper (1961) remembers having to keep her hose seam straight. They all remembered being required to wear red lipstick as part of the uniform. After eight weeks of training the women were allowed a liberty weekend spent in Lancaster, Pa. Joan Suelter (1966) remembers navigating the cobblestone streets in the very high required heels.
The training was stringent. In particular Nancy White remembered the “save ourselves” exercise required for graduation. All of the ‘Ladies’ had to be able to turn a pair of dungarees into a flotation device while in the water.
Readying for inspection and memories of the super starched collars brought groans, stories and laughter from the group. However, many admit they still to this day fold their linens at home the “Navy way.” Nancy Whiter remembers discipline as one of the most important aspects of the training or as Cindy Cooper put it, “I was a mischief maker; the Navy straightened me right up.”
The camaraderie of this newly formed group is evident. Through the national Bainbridge Waves Facebook page, Peggy Campbell, Joan Suelter and Sue Herring discovered they were practically neighbors and decided to have lunch. The next month Joyce Young and Cindy Cooper joined them and they have been growing steadily ever since. That was in November 2014. During this time Peggy Campbell was inspired to organize the first Bainbridge Waves reunion. It was such a success she is organizing a second reunion scheduled for October 2016 in Cocoa Beach. If you are a Wave and attended boot camp at Bainbridge you are welcome to join this group. Contact Peggy Campbell at pegcam68@gmail.com.
