Seaman 1st Class Mary Kathryn Carr loved to fly, often hopping on a commuter flight at a time when many women had never been on a plane. Mary followed the recruiting efforts in her hometown, and was soon a WAVE helping flights.

When Mary Kathryn Carr was a young child, her family lived in Mercer, Pennsylvania. In the 1920s, her father, Frederick Carr, was working as a laborer in a steel car factory. Her mother, Nora Regina O’Connor Carr, was working as a housekeeper. Mary was the second oldest and was brought in the New Year with the birthdate of December 31, 1915. She had a big brother, Elmer Thomas Carr born in 1914, a younger sister, Sarah F. Carr Cassidy, born in 1917 and three younger brothers: Phillip Thomas Carr, born 1919, Frederick Joseph Carr, born in 1920 and James George Carr, born in 1923.[i]

By the 1934, the family had moved about 40 miles away, across the state line, and had made a home in Greene, Ohio. Fred was supporting the six children and Nora as a farm manager.

Mary graduated from Greene High School and then attended business college in Columbus, Ohio.

HER LIFE BEFORE MILITARY

Mary is in the work force by the time the war years come. She is living with her mother and father in a rental home in Warren. Mary, 23, works as a stenographer in a department store. Much of the family is at work. Sister Sarah is a winder for the electric company, meaning she tests, rewinds and services electric motors in various equipment. Meanwhile, younger brother Phillip is listed only as a new worker. James is in high school. Meanwhile, her brother, Frederick is not listed as being in school but is listed as being unable to work.[ii]

Later, Mary was employed by the Tax Commission Office in Columbus, Ohio and then at Sears as a bookkeeper.[iii]

“She loved to fly,” her father told the Warren Tribune Chronicle. He noted she often flew from Columbus to Cleveland to visit home when working at the State House.[iv]

HER MILITARY STORY

Mary enlisted in the United States Navy Women’s Reserve on March 25th, 1943. Her service number was 7039141[v].

In the early 1940s, the United States Navy was getting ready to have enlisted women as well as the first female commissioned officers. At this time, there were only Navy women working as nurses. President Roosevelt signed the Navy Women’s Reserve Act, creating the WAVES in 1942. The women who stepped forward to free men for sea duty set the stage for women in the Navy for future decades. WAVES stands for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.[vi]

According to Navy History, men and women with the same rank were paid the same pay. That drew a lot of women to step forward and volunteer. Following an application, an interview, a physical, a business skills test and an oath, women were WAVES. Because Navy protocol insisted yeomen be assigned to ships, the women were assigned to all manner of ships – those that were sunk, docked or unused.[vii]

With the Navy barracks full of men, the women were on their own for housing, transportation and food from a housing allowance they received. They were trained in navel procedures, policies, ship and plane identification, ranks, culture and customs plus marching and drills after work.[viii]

Dressed in summer whites or dark navy winter blues, the women worked at everything from deciphering code to operating as lookouts, designing camouflage, being a pharmacist, a baker, an aircraft mechanic and many other job descriptions including all manner of office work.[ix]

Mary received her naval training at Hunter College in New York. After WAVES beginning training, the women were to report to active-duty stations or to a specialization school. Mary attended radio school in Madison, Wisconsin. Her first assignment was in Glenview, Illinois.[x]

After training, Mary served in the Aerology Department.[xi] Since 1928, the Navy had used areological units to collects atmospheric data for their unit.[xii] This is vital information for both ships and planes.

She then received notice that she was assigned to the Naval Reserve in Kansas.[xiii]

Before heading to Kansas, Mary took a quick trip home for a 36-hour leave. She told her family that she was saving up her leave time from that point on so she could be home for a longer period next summer.

HER LAST DAY – February 26, 1944

It’s been two weeks since Mary had been home on leave. On a Saturday, Mary settled in for a routine flight from the base in Olathe, KS, which was a unit of the naval air primary command, to Fairfax.[xiv] She was flying on a 2-engine navy transport plane.[xv] Amid the crew and other passengers were two other WAVES, Margaret Irene Vajda, Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class, of Capitol Heights, Maryland and Clinta Campbell, Yeoman 3rd Class, of Kansas City, Missouri.[xvi]

It was about 2 p.m. when the pilot took the flight up in what seemed a normal take-off as reported by witnesses on the ground.[xvii] However, it only climbed 75 feet.[xviii] The plane then crashed very quickly, just making it a “short distance from the north boundary of the air base.” Some passengers escaped from the plane.[xix] A wing had scraped the ground on the way down and then the plane landed flat on its bottom. Then, the fuel burst into flames.[xx] The fire corps arrived at the scene but the flames kept them from reaching the passengers. Naval Authorities at Fairfax airport said that there was no engine failure.[xxi]

After the crash, a survivor, Master Sgt. Robert R. Tomlinson of the Marines, said that he was trying to loosen a seat belt on one of the WAVES when they hit the ground.

Eleven were killed that afternoon in the plane crash. That included Mary and the other two WAVES.[xxii]

A military escort brought Seaman 1st Class Mary Kathryn Carr home to Warren, Ohio.[xxiii]

Mary was 28.

HER FUNERAL AND GRAVE

A call went out to all Navy personnel home on leave in the Warren area. They were asked to report to the Recruiting Station for attendance at the service of Seaman Mary Carr.[xxiv]

A large crowd attended Seaman First Class Mary Kathryn Carr’s funeral including members of the armed services and patriotic groups, according to the local newspaper. Her funeral included full military rites. A full requiem mass was held in the church and military services were conducted at the graveside by the VFW commander. A three-volley salute rang out, taps was heard and a color guard stood at attention. Just before burial, the coffin’s flag was removed and presented to Mary’s mother, Nora. There were four WAVES present to represent that branch – from the Cleveland, Ohio recruiting station. The pallbearers were all active-duty Navy men.[xxv]

Mary Kathryn Carr is buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Warren, Ohio.[xxvi]

AFTER THE WAR

Two brothers of Mary served in WWII also. Phillip was at Camp Gordon, Georgia and James was with the Quartermaster’s Corps in the Army in England.[xxvii]

Mary’s siblings lived into old age and provided Mary with nieces and nephews she never got to know.

RESEARCH NOTES

Mary’s ancestry.com page shows the birthdate of 1918 but this is not correct.

A special thanks to the Warren-Trumbull County Library for help with this research for the story.

FIND MORE INFORMATION HERE

The Waves of WWII/National Women’s History Museum

ABOUT THIS STORY

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen saved on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story.

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