Eldredge, Pamela J.

Description

Pamela J. Eldredge

Pamela Janet Eldredge was born on February 5, 1924, in Port Chester, New York, her father, Sanford, was 31, and her mother, Hellen, was 28. She had two older sisters Helen and Margaret and a younger brother Sanford. In Rye her family lived at 3 Pine Lane anf they were members of the Church of the Resurrection. .

Pamela was a Rye High School Graduate, Class of 1942. Before the war she was working for the Life Savers Corp. in Port Chester, NY.

Pamela enlisted on May 4, 1944 when she was 20 years old and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. She attended the US Naval Training School in Bronx, NY. SEE DISCHARGE RECORD

Pamela Eldredge Joins WAVES

Miss Pamela J. Eldredge has been accepted by the WAVES as an apprentice seaman and is now stationed at Hunter College, New York, for boot training. Her brother, Cadet Sanford Eldredge, Jr. , will be graduated next month from the Admiral
Billiard Naval Academy, New London, Conn. Their parents are Mr. and Mrs. Sanford Eldredge, 3 Pine Lane.

Friday, May 26, 1944 THE RYE CHRONICLE PAGE SEVEN

The WAVES served in 900 shore stations in the continental United States. Initially, they were prohibited from serving on ships or outside of the country. In September 1944, the Congress amended the law by allowing the WAVES to volunteer for service in the territories of Alaska and Hawaii. Hawaii was the only overseas station staffed with the WAVES on a permanent basis. The officers were employed in such professions as doctors, attorneys, engineers, mathematicians, and chaplains.

Most enlisted WAVES worked in jobs traditionally performed by women, such as clerical work, health care, or storekeeping.

Pamela served with the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in Washington DC and rose to the rank of Seaman First Class. She was awarded the American Theatre Ribbon and WWII Victory Medal.

She married Anthony Wells in Rye, New York, on September 20, 1947, when she was 23 years old. They had four children during their marriage.

Pamela Janet Eldredge Wells died on April 27, 2000, in Ithaca, New York, at the age of 76.