Ruth “Buttercup” Sparks made the voyage from Denmark in 1926 when she was only 11 years old. She sat and looked out over the horizon when they arrived in New York City. It took a week but soon, she was looking at the Statue of Liberty and knew that she was in the United States. They started their new life as Americans but she would end up doing something that really defined her life from that moment forward. She became a member of the United States Navy during World War II and is one of the last living female veterans.
Women were recruited into the U.S. Navy under the U.S. Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) branch during World War II. She joined the Navy in that organization in 1945. “I was the second class of WAVES,” she recalled. She also did work as a secretary and a mechanic but she requested a relocation because of her hatred of the snow. That is when she started working in Texas and landed in Corpus Christi, where she would meet her husband.
After she met her husband, she moved to San Antonio where she continues to live and enjoy the warm weather. She recently turned 104 years old and celebrated her birthday. She was asked a common question of somebody who makes it to her age, that of her secret of longevity. She said that exercise was an important part of it but she also had a drink from time to time.
World War II is a distant memory for those who lived at that time. The veterans are quickly passing away and Sparks is the last of the female World War II veterans that remain.
Prior to the time that WAVES was created, the only way a woman could be in the Navy as if she was a nurse. Men were needed for combat so other jobs needed to be filled by women. They ended up taking support roles in those days.
Even though the days leading up to WAVES were difficult, the women who were part of that branch of the military were given full military status. This also gave the benefits of being in the military. They weren’t fighting in combat but they were working in that same sector. Ruth Sparks is the last living female WWII veteran, making her an important part of that piece of history.
Source: Do You Remember
