BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — It's a veteran's voice that helped to organize Naval ship location in San Diego during World War II.
Janet Bryan was an office worker in Pennsylvania when she jumped at the chance to join the Navy in 1941. It was a decision that didn't take her around the world, but across the country.
Bryan grew up in Coatesville, Pennsylvania before she caught a "wave" that would carry her to Southern California.
"I think I just saw it on the news and saw everything and it just appealed to me and I wanted to do it," said Bryan. "I loved the Navy. They were a fine, beautiful organization."
Bryan was one of the first members of the Navy "Waves," the women accepted for volunteer emergency service. After basic training in Oklahoma, she shipped out for San Diego and worked in an office that controlled ship movements on Coronado Island.
"San Diego, that's where all the ships were," said Bryan. "They were in San Diego, at the time."
Even though she worked on the base, Bryan did board a ship every day she was there.
"I was the captain's secretary, so then he sent a boat for me," explained Bryan. "He sent a boat over for me to take me back over to his office."
Bryan has forgotten many details about her time in the service, as it was nearly 80 years ago. She celebrated her 103rd birthday in February.
Pictures help Bryan remember the past, however. She has photos of the time she rode a zipline in Los Vegas for her 98th birthday and of the time she went on the Honor Flight to Washington D.C.
Bryan joined the Honor Flight out of San Luis Obispo while she was living in Paso Robles. She moved to Bakersfield in 2015 to be closer to her family.
San Diego, however, is where she road the "Wave." It is where she met her husband, Larry Tarbell, a Chief Quartermaster in the Navy.
