Margie Vines proudly opened a manila envelope and pulled out a certificate sent to her parents in 1942.

The near pristine piece of paper indicated the United States Navy accepted her to participate in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, or WAVES  —  the first all female division of the USN.

Now 86, and a resident of Issaquah’s Spiritwood at Pine Lake Retirement Community, Vines recalled much tougher times growing up. Her parents, who moved from the Skagit Valley to Bremerton after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, worked non-stop in the shipyard during the boat building boom. Margie and her sister were often left to fend for themselves. And in a overpopulated town with not much going on, Vines said it was easy for most kids to get in trouble.

“We’d get so bored, if we had 50 cents we’d go down and get on the ferry and ride to Seattle and then we had to hide on the ferry to get back,” she said. “That was the worst thing we did.”

After graduating high school, Vines, then 19, and her best friend, Olive Allen, decided it was time for a change.

“One day we were just sick of the whole situation, we thought, ‘well, maybe we should go into the service,’” she said. “I talked to my dad and he said that was a safer place for me to be than the streets of Bremerton.”

After signing their papers, Vines and Allen became a part of U.S. history. They were two of around 75 women from the Seattle area to hop on a train to New York City to join the WAVES. Approximately 27,000 women from all corners of the country joined the organization in its first year. Most were assigned to clerical work, but some took positions in aviation, medical professions, communications, intelligence and technology.

Allen was sent to Oklahoma to become a secretary, but Vines was selected to work in nursing.

“Everybody wanted to know when do we have to learn to give shots  —  that was a scary thing,” she said.

After training on oranges, then giving a partner a poke with a needle, Vines and six other women were sent to their hospital assignment in Norfolk, Va.

A member of the ear, nose and throat ward, Vines said she faced several difficult situations, including being placed on one-on-one watch over terminally ill sailors.

Her self-described claim to fame came in 1944, when she was one of the first nurses to administer a penicillin shot  —  not something she was crazy about.

“I just couldn’t imagine hitting someone in the butt with a big needle,” Vines said. “The first day (the head nurse) said we’re going to do this now, so I went up and hid the bathroom for two days in a row.”

Vines, who described herself as a bit naive, said she eventually built up the courage to give the shots.

And it wasn’t long after, she met her true love, Eddie Meritt, an X-ray tech.

The two started dating, got married and soon had their first of two girls. Due to her pregnancy, Vines decided to make a change.

“I decided that being in the Navy, this isn’t much fun, I’d rather be a mom,” she said.

While her stint in the WAVES lasted only a year, Vines said she is grateful for her chance to serve in the Navy and the role in U.S. history she played. And as Memorial Day roles around this week, she said it’s a time to remember all those who have sacrificed their lives.

“I think it’s important for all of us, for our country,” Vines said. “All the people who have lost people, they need that.”

STORIES TO TELL

Of the 97 residents at the Spiritwood at Pine Lake Retirement Community, 50 are veterans or spouses of World War II veterans.