By Raymond Munger

After reading about the Nebraska Ave. facility being activated in February 1943, I believe I may have been one of the first 1100 to be stationed there. Louie Neu of Shelbyville, Harry Weber of Indianapolis, Tommy Pollard of Evansville, Gordon Nelson of Minneapolis, H.D. Meyer of Selma, Alabama and I were all members of Company 1630, Camp Green Bay, Great Lakes Naval Training Center.

We were rated as Yeoman 3/C (third class) and upon completion of boot camp were assigned to the Navy Building in Washington, D.C. We all took an oath not to reveal the type of work we were doing in the Navy and were then placed on subsistence and told to go find a place to live. Louie and I rented a basement room at $100 per month at 21st and “P” Street near Dupont Circle.

We attended crypto school taught by a Chief Warrant Officer, and upon completion of classes, we were assigned watches at the Navy Building. In February 1943, we were transferred to 3801 Nebraska Ave., which had been the Mount Vernon Seminary for Girls. We were assigned to “day,” “eve,” and “mid” watches alternating on a weekly basis.

We would catch a bus at Dupont Circle and ride out Massachusetts Ave. to Ward Circle. I do not recall a lot about duty there because we were assigned to a certain area and that was the only place we could be. I do remember typing a lot of messages that were in columns of five digit numbers. These were easier to type since we had Underwood typewriters with all numbers on the top row of keys. I also remember operating a Recordak which photographed the message. The Navy began building barracks for the WAVES, and it wasn’t too long before they came on watch with us. At first it seems that we were not to fraternize with them, but this was relaxed later. Their barracks life was a lot like a college dorm. They had to be inside by 2200.

photo courtesy Ray Munger
LeVon Mullins and Doris Western

Two of the WAVES I was on watch with were Doris Western and Gloria (?) (Photos published in Vol 16 No. 5 Fall 1995.) We corresponded throughout the war while I was stationed in Hawaii and Guam. In June or July of 1943, I and Neu, Weber, Pollard, Nelson, Meyer, and several others volunteered to go to our facility on Oahu. We were stationed at Aiea Naval Barracks and walked to our building which was located behind Admiral Nimitz’ headquarters at Makalapa.

Each time I look at my photo album, I often wonder what ever became of Doris, Delores, Weber, Meyer and the others. Neu and Nelson are deceased along with Lowell Miller who I served with on Guam. I look through the directory for names that I might recognize but so far no luck. There must be a lot of

Specialists “Q”’s who aren’t aware of the organization. I only found out about the NCVA when Nelson attended the reunion in Minneapolis and sent me a copy of the Guam Special Issue, adding that my photograph was in it.

I hope that my letter and photos may add a little more information about the Nebraska Avenue annex.

Featured image: photo courtesy Ray Munger

Source: NCVA CRYPTOLOG, Summer 2004