Polk County

 
Mary Louise Moore

 

 

 

There was a houseparty of the W.H. Moore and Mrs. Earl George cottage, on the same beach over the holiday. Those in the group were Mrs. Billy Moore George, Miss Mary Louise Moore, Miss Ann Alley, and Miss Corrine Heater, all of Des Moines. Misses Moore and Alley leave July 25 for Hunter college for preliminary training in the WAVES.

Source: The Des Moines Register, July 9, 1944

Des Moines in the Services

Mary Louise Moore, seaman, second class, has completed WAVE boot training at Hunter College, NY, and now is at yeoman school at Stillwater, Okla. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Moore, 815 Thirty-third st.

Ann Alley, formerly of Des Moines, has also finished boot training and now is in Stillwater.

Source: Des Moines Tribune, September 13, 1944

Des Moines in the Service

Des Moines women have completed training at the naval training school for WAVES, the Bronx, N.Y., and have received the following assignments:

Ellen L. Larsen, hospital apprentice, second class, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G.E. Tomlinson, 3414 S.W. Ninth st, to the U.S. Naval hospital, San Diego, Cal for further instruction.

Virginian Carolyn Memler, seaman, second class, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. I.B. Memler, 1057 Fortieth st., to Washington, D.C. for duty.

Mary Louise Moore, seaman, second class, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Moore, 815 Thirty-third st, to the naval training school for yeoman, Oklahoma A and M college, Stillwater, Okla for further instruction.

Source: Des Moines Tribune, September 18, 1944

Des Moines in the Services

Mary Louise Moore, yeoman, second class, 815 Thirty-third st., has been discharged from the WAVES at San Francisco, Cal.

Source: Des Moines Tribune, April 30, 1946

Mary Louise “Mary Lou” Moore McGuire was born July 12, 1922 to William Humbert and Margaret Wrenn Moore. She died Dec. 16, 2021 and is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines, IA. Petty Officer Moore served in World War II with the U.S. Navy, stationed on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay area where she worked as a secretary for the Chief Staff Officer of a Dual Command called the Northern California Sector, Western Sea Frontier and Naval Local Defense Forces, 12th Naval District. As a Yeoman 2nd Class, she handled many confidential materials and enjoyed a fairly high security clearance level to work in the Operations Office. She remembers being frustrated that while she was privy to secret documents and meetings; she could not discuss her work with anyone. 

The starkest memory she had of her time in the WAVES was noticing one lone ship streaking across the Pacific on a plotting board and wondering what the heck was going on. A few days later the Enola Gay flew over Hiroshima and dropped the atom bomb. The ship that Mary Lou was “watching” turned out to be the USS Indianapolis, which was carrying components for the first atom bomb. She literally had a front row seat to watch history in the making. 

Mary Lou was married to James Richard “Jim" McGuire. Jim was born Nov. 27, 1917 to James Edward “Jimmy” and Cecelia Honora Meagher McGuire. He died Nov. 7, 2014 and is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines, IA. Jim served in World War II with the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Keokuk (CMC-6) and the USS Sylvania (AFS-2).

Source: ancestry.com