Those who enjoy freedom will always appreciate those who preserved it.

For decades, Julia Parsons maintained that she worked a quiet, ordinary desk job during World War II. But her job was anything but ordinary. Parsons is a Veteran of the Navy’s all-female WAVES unit, one of thousands of women whose work decrypting Japanese and German communications played a pivotal role in helping the Allies win the war.

Parsons remains tight-lipped about her time in the service.

At 100 years old, the retired lieutenant is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She lives alone and tends to her house with “no problems at all.”

Related Posts

Raising Children in the Spotlight: What Celebrity Family Life Really Looks Like

Famous actors, musicians, athletes, and other public figures are often celebrated for their careers, but curiosity frequently extends to how they approach parenting. Across industries and cultures,…

What WD-40 Really Stands For—and Why Its Name Tells a Bigger Story

WD-40 is one of those products that seems to exist everywhere—tucked into garages, toolboxes, and kitchen drawers, ready for squeaky hinges or stubborn bolts. Most people know…

Why Some Tree Trunks Are Painted White—and Why It Matters

If you’ve ever noticed a tree with its trunk painted white and paused to wonder why, the answer is more practical than decorative. This simple technique has…

The Stranger on My Porch Who Brought My Son Home

Just before dawn, still groggy and reaching for the newspaper, I opened my front door and froze. A large biker lay slumped against it, injured and barely…

How to Make Perfectly Crispy Bacon—Without the Mess

There’s a special satisfaction in bacon that’s cooked just right: crisp at the edges, golden through the center, and full of flavor without excess grease. Yet stovetop…

The Day I Stopped Apologizing for Surviving

I was running on fumes when my husband laughed and said I looked like I’d “just rolled out of bed.” Three children, sleepless nights, and a house…