SOUTH YARMOUTH – A 96 year-old Cape resident is recalling her own military experience this Veteran’s Day.
Anne Seeley, of South Yarmouth, worked as a code breaker during World War II and recently spoke about her experiences with Cape and Islands’ Congressman Bill Keating.
Seeley tells Keating that after the attack on Pearl Harbor she was among a handful of female college students recruited for a secret training program in cryptography which was being sponsored by the U.S. Navy.
“I think it came just down to brains,” Seeley told Keating when asked why the Navy selected her for the elite program, “The other people majored in different things, the just were interested in people who could think and work hard.”
She attended these trainings at night throughout 1942 along with twenty other students, while also completing her senior year at Smith College.
“It was totally secret and hush hush,” she explained, “We had to meet at night in a vacant biology lab, with a teacher who knew no more than we did. But there was a program, and we followed the program.”
Upon graduation, Ms. Seeley joined the Navy. As part of the newly created “Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service” program. There, she worked around the clock to decipher the principal Japanese naval codes.
Women in the program went to boot camp, cut their hair short, and were subject to harsh naval discipline and were eventually awarded the opportunity to become commissioned officers.
After the war Ms. Seeley, however, returned to school going on to receive her Master’s degree from Columbia University.
“Anne Seeley is a real hero who has not gotten the recognition she deserves for her critical work during World War II,” said Keating. “It is my honor to be a small part of making sure her story is known, especially for our younger generations.”
The interview was part of an initiative titled: “Bringing History Home: Veterans Share Their Stories with the Next Generation,” where local WWII veterans were interviewed about their experiences during the war.
Those oral histories were then submitted the Library of Congress to be part of their Veterans History Project.
By DAVID BEATTY, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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