Author: Barbara Nicodemus

Publisher:

Published: 2015-10-02

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 9781937327767

A CODE-BREAKING WAC IN THE PACIFIC DURING WWII - DECIPHERING JAPANESE SECRETS WHILE COPING WITH A BITTERSWEET LOVE. Nineteen-year-old Billie Jean had no idea when she walked into the Army Recruiting office in 1943 that in less than a year she would be breaking code in the Southwest Pacific. Her WWII military service in the Women's Army Corps would take her from her home in West Texas to assignments in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines. While her wanderlust and volunteer spirit got her to the Pacific, her intelligence and attention to detail got her hand-picked for an all women select cryptologic field unit. Billie Jean struggles to decipher enemy secrets while confronting all the dangers of love and war. The selfless service and contribution of U.S. women serving in the Signal Intelligence Service during the Second World War is relatively unknown. Cryptanalyst, Genevieve Grotjan Feinstein's discovery was the key to breaking the "Purple" Japanese Diplomatic code which was crucial in allowing the Allies to win the war in the Pacific. Much of the highly secretive work was done by women back home and in the field. Follow the untold story of WWII Signal Intelligence WACS serving in the Southwest Pacific through the eyes Billie Jean Nicodemus, one of their own. "I was particularly impressed by how you captured both the intensity of war and your mother's drive to make a difference. I was also struck how your mom matured over her experiences. She was lucky because many WACS during that time were not treated fairly and were ostracized for being in the military during that time. I thought it was engaging and thought provoking."-Susan Rogers Ph.D., Colonel, U.S. Army retired . "In Silence Means Security, Barbara Nicodemus shines light into what is, for this reader at least, an unexplored corner of WWII history - the experience of young women WAC code-breakers in the South Pacific. This is more than just a history, however. Ms. Nicodemus' mother was one of those young WACs and the author's real emotional connection to her material, her desire to discover this hidden facet of her mother's life, rises to the surface on every page."-Michael Knight, Author of The Typist, Professor of English, University of Tennessee Knoxville.