The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program is honored to announce the May 2021 story of the month has been selected to recognize the service of United States Navy Veteran, Commander Ruth L. Rothberg Erno. The United States Navy Memorial Stories of Service Program was privileged to interview Commander Ruth L. Rothberg Erno at the Vinson Hall Retirement Community in the Summer of 2016.

Commander Ruth L. Rothberg Erno graduated from Framingham State College at the age of 20 with aspirations of becoming a teacher. To enter the field of public education at the time in her area, new teachers needed to be 21. Instead of waiting a year, she decided to serve her community in another way by joining the Navy. Upon her enlistment into the Navy she recalled, "My career in the Navy was always the first, the first group sworn in, the first group to go to New York City for basic training..." Training took place at Hunter College and focused on Naval history, customs, and more. Commander Ruth L. Rothberg Erno would now and forever be regarded as one of the first members of the United States Naval Reserve Women's Reserve, the WAVES. After graduation from basic training, the new WAVES were ordered to Norman Oklahoma aboard a troop train which would first travel north before turning south to a new base constructed in 1942 called, Naval Air Station Norman. Commander Ruth L. Rothberg Erno shared, “There was not a blade of grass, everything was flat...it wasn’t dirt like we know, it was like the sand you would find at the beach...It was an active airfield and there was a University there, the people were very friendly and couldn’t do enough for us." The commander remembered the posting as if it was yesterday and shared, "It was a huge base with thousands of sailors...they didn’t have woman before." She spoke of her assignment at NAS Norman by sharing, "we were studying to become aviation metalsmith’s...because I was trained as a teacher, I was assigned to teach." She quickly gained the attention of her superiors as a leader and became an instructor which led to a future commissioning in the United States Navy as an officer.

After receiving her commission, she was stationed in Boston. She recalled life on the home front and sacrifices of rationing as the war in Pacific and Europe raged. She was quickly promoted to different roles in New England which included, Base Communications Officer at Naval Base Portsmouth and Communications Superintendent at the Portsmouth Naval Yard. After the war, she served at the Pentagon Office of Naval Operations until 1956. Her service did not end there. The Commander stayed active in a number of military organizations and was an active member of the fundraising effort and planning for the United States Navy Memorial. Ruth was present at the dedication ceremony in 1987 and believed in the value, mission, and role of the United States Navy Memorial.

The United States Navy Memorial honors United States Navy Veteran, Commander Ruth L. Rothberg Erno, featured within this series titled, Tales from the Navy Log, Story of the Month. Each month, this series honors a Veteran’s story recorded by the Stories of Service Program at the Navy Memorial. To learn more about this story and to explore the Navy Memorial archive, visit the Navy Memorial Stories of Service site at https://www.navymemorial.org/stories-of-service.

To view this interview please visit the Vinson Hall Collection on the Navy Memorial Stories of Service page.