On November 23, 1942, 25-year-old Grace Evelyn Brown took the oath and was inducted into the WAVES. The WAVES, or Women Accepted for Voluntary Service in the U.S. Navy Reserve, was a brand-new organization established in July 1942. Grace and another young woman, Helen Virginia Brooks, were scheduled to attend the first WAVES training or Boot Camp at Iowa State College in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which was to begin in January 1943.

Grace was the younger daughter born to James M. and Alice Irene (Bailey) Brown in Waltham, Middlesex County, Massachusetts in 1917. Her actual date of birth was not found. Grace and her older sister, Alice, appeared to have a middle-class upbringing. Her father, a postal carrier, and her mother, a piano teacher, were able to employ a maid, who was listed in the household in the 1920 census. In the 1930 census, her paternal grandfather, who had Irish and Scottish ancestry, lived with the family.

Grace appeared in the yearbook for Waltham High School for 1935 and was given the nickname, “Brownie.”

In 1940, Grace was employed as a sales clerk, and her sister was employed as a dental hygienist. Both sisters still lived at home.

A few days after their induction into the newly formed WAVES, Grace and Helen V. Brooks were at the Cocoanut Grove Night Club in Boston on November 28, 1942. No doubt they went to celebrate their new career and what the future might hold. That night proved to be a tragedy when a fire broke out in the club. The club was over capacity and many of the exit doors were locked. Both young women did not survive, along with 51 servicemen. The deadly fire claimed a total of 492 lives, one of the deadliest fires in U.S. history.

Grace was brought back to her home town of Waltham where a High Mass of Requiem was held in her memory at St. Mary's Church. The Mass was officiated by her cousin, Rev. Thomas M. Riley. She was buried at Saint Paul's Cemetery in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Although Grace never actually served in the WAVES, she had taken the oath and made the commitment to serve, and for that we will honor her memory and not forget.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org**). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

If you noticed anything I missed in this profile, please go to the end of this story and see “Added by” to find my contact information.

References:

1920 United States Federal Census
1930 United States Federal Census
1940 United States Federal Census
U. S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current
U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999
Newspapers.com - Battle Creek Enquirer - 6 Dec 1942 - Page 19
Newspapers.com - The Boston Globe - 1 Dec 1942 - Page 41
Newspapers.com - The North Adams Transcript - 2 Dec 1942 - Page 6