MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Jovita Enriquez Tellez, a U.S. Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) veteran, is celebrating a once-in-a-lifetime milestone on Feb. 15: her 100th birthday.
Tellez, a native of Luling, Texas, served in the U.S. Navy as a WAVE during World War II from 1945 to 1946.
She is one of the last remaining U.S. Navy WAVES veterans. Tellez, also known as Jo, is a first-generation American whose parents migrated from Mexico in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Tellez graduated from Luling High School in 1944 and tried to enlist as a WAVE that same year, but the quota was already met. Moving to San Antonio, Texas, the following year, Tellez was able to finally enlist in June 1945 at the age of 21.
Tellez's decision to join the military was born out of a desire to serve her country.
"I joined the Navy because it was wartime," said Tellez. "It was WWII, so I felt I had to do something."
Tellez's father was very supportive of her decision to join the Navy.
"When I told my father I was going to join the Navy, he supported my decision and responded in Spanish, 'It is a job worth doing,'" said Tellez.
VJ Day was announced shortly after Tellez completed her training at USS Hunter Naval Training Center in the Bronx, New York. Tellez and her fellow WAVES were given a Memorable Day leave, going into New York City to join the masses filling the streets. Tellez remembers being part of crowds forming large circles made up of military of all branches and civilians.
"We cried, laughed and sang," said Tellez. "I was kissed by so many sailors, I don't know how many."
WAVES, the women's branch of the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II, was established by the U.S. Congress on July 21, 1942, and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on July 30. This authorized the U.S. Navy to accept women into the Naval Reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level, effective for the duration of the war plus six months.
Although WAVES was relatively small in the number of women who served and short in its span of existence (July 1942 to September 1946), an estimated 87,000 WAVES served in the U.S. Armed Forces during its existence. These women greatly impacted the positive outcome of the war and were directly and indirectly monumental in affecting the permanent existence of women in all U.S. military branches.
