Small Town America in World War II: War Stories from Wrightsville, Pennsylvania

Chapter 19: CPO Elmira “Jane” Bock

Chapter 19 CPO Elmira “Jane” Bock Anacostia Receiving Station, Washington, DC Born on 31 October 1923, in Baltimore, Maryland, Jane Bock spent her youth and early adult years in Wrightsville before joining the WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) during World War II. She was the oldest of three children born to Victor J. and Katherine Drenning Bock. The Bock family moved to Wrightsville when she was approximately two years old after her father, a professional baseball player, was offered a job at the American Chain and Cable Company in York on the condition that he pitch for the firm in a local industrial league. After graduating from Wrightsville High School in 1940 and working in several secretarial positions, she joined the Navy on 18 November 1943. Her decision to enlist was based on patriotism and a desire to experience the world beyond Wrightsville. After the usual Navy training for women, she was assigned to an administrative position in the Fire Control School at Anacostia Receiving Station, Washington, DC. By the end of the war, she had worked her way up through the enlisted ranks and mustered out as a chief petty officer. Shortly after returning to Wrightsville, she married Edward Silar. Jane and Ed raised four children, and they currently live in Allentown, Pennsylvania. 1 358 SMALL TOWN AMERICA IN WORLD WAR II The Bock family suffered through some of the worst effects of the Great Depression, and her experiences during that time may have subconsciously determined her later decision to join the Navy: “I went to school in Wrightsville where we had what I consider today as the absolutely perfect academic system. We had nothing but academic courses and none of the special things—two years of Latin, two years of French, four years of history, four years of English and literature , and four years of science and math. I graduated from Wrightsville High School in 1940, but I could find no job, and I certainly was unable to afford to go to college. “It was a very, very poor time during the Depression. Our family was ‘poor to hungry.’ I wanted so much to go to college, but back then we didn’t have ways to go if you didn’t have the money. I wanted to major in physical education. Obviously, I now needed a job, but there were few choices available. Around the time I finished high school, Dad got a job, so there was a little bit of income coming in, so I finally ended up going to Prowell’s Business School in York. At Prowell’s, I had English, typing, shorthand, and training in general office procedures. “The first job I took was with the Lancaster Red Roses baseball team, which was a farm club for the Philadelphia Athletics. Actually, my father got me that job. It was a very, very hard job for someone who had never worked before. I typed up all the contracts; I did all the correspondence; I had to account for all the money that came in from the gate receipts. I did all of that, and I had to stay late at night. I was working ten, twelve hours a day. For all this work, I got paid $12 a week. I stayed there until the season ended, and then I went to work for the PP&L [Pennsylvania Power and Light Company]. At PP&L, I made $12 a week, but I was working fewer hours than I was with the baseball club. In addition, PP&L gave me money for transportation expenses. I was working there when I decided to join the Navy. CPO Elmira “Jane” Bock 359 Like many Americans, Jane was swept up in the surge of patriotism that engulfed the country following the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor and American entry into World War II. Like her brother “Son,” she decided to join the Navy: “I had just come home from church when I heard about Pearl Harbor, and that’s all I remember. I must have heard about it at home. I guess that when I came home, the news was on the radio. Pearl Harbor was so remote for most people, but I’m sure we were all horrified. The next thing I remember is that within a short period of time, Walnut Street seemed to have been emptied of draft-age young men, and you must remember that there were a lot of...