Wagner grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. She attended high school and college in there.Her father was a ladies tailor. He owned a business with two other men and had branches in St. Paul, Minnesota, a branch in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a branch in Duluth. About a year after starting up, one of the partners fled to South America with all of the businesses money. After that her father went into business on his own.Wagner's father taught his children not to buy anything they couldn't pay cash for. In 1929 the family bought a brand new Studebaker for 1,000 dollars cash. Wagner graduated from college with a degree in chemistry and biology with a minor in physics and math. At the time she graduated the draft was already going on, so she went out to the US Steel Company and applied for a job. She was hired and fit right in. She worked in shifts but made very good money.Whenever a man would leave she would be pushed up a notch. When Wagner realized that the man in the position above her had five children and wasn't going anywhere, she quit and enlisted in the service.She was commissioned and assigned to a communications unit. She was assigned to Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard [Annotator’s Note: in San Francisco, California]. She and three other WAVES [Annotator's Note: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service] got off the train in California at the wrong stop. A couple of sailors volunteered to take them where they needed to go.The WAVES were quartered in the BOQ, Bachelor Officer's Quarters. They only place they could eat was at the Officers’ Club. They worked a lot of hours but there was plenty for them to do in their time off.Wagner decoded messages from all over the Pacific Fleet.

Not all of them were happy to see women [Annotator's Note: Wagner is referring to US Naval Officers in San Francisco].Wagner had signed up in 1943 for the duration plus six months. Her brother was a Marine dive bomber pilot. She didn't join the Marines because of the olive green underwear.The girls were about the same age and income bracket but came from all over. There were seven of them who were very close and the surviving members are still in contact. Wagner met her late husband in the service.In Wagner's office there were six civilians and five or six officers. They worked in what they called "the cage." The cage was guarded by a Marine with a gun.They were making history but didn't know it at the time.The atom bomb was sent through Wagner's shipyard. It was escorted by several cars full of FBI men. The night before the bomb was to be loaded on the Indianapolis [Annotator's Note: US Navy heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35)] the communication officer went into Wagner's office to shred some documents. The Indianapolis was sunk. Wagner later learned that the bomb didn't have a warhead on it.She was very proud to have served in the navy.Wagner worked eight hour shifts. They each had their own room with a lady who made their beds. Everywhere she went in the navy the food was very good.Wagner had a brother who was a navy dive bomber pilot and she had received a telegram stating that he had been killed. She was on duty alone that night because the girl she had duty with had the flu. A message came in from the Pacific Fleet about a submarine being sunk. Wagner messed up the message and got chewed out by an officer about it.

Wagner was checking in after dinner when a guard stuck a gun in her back. She identified herself as Lieutenant Wagner and showed her identification and was let in.Wagner's job kept her busy all day. Nights were not as busy. They would scramble and unscramble messages. They could not take notes and had to remember much of what they heard.They read material to keep them up to date on what they were doing.One girl had been in the office for two months longer than Wagner so they could go to her with any questions. Her unit was subordinate to the 12th Naval District.Messages would be brought to Wagner's office to be coded, then sent out.It was a naval tradition to stand outside of the hall where graduations were taking place. When the newly commissioned officers left the hall the first person to return their salute had to be given one dollar that the new officer signed. Wagner made nine dollars this way that she still has.Every day was different for her. The code was always being changed. The messages she got were never detailed.When kamikaze pilots hit the smokestacks on ships they would go to the shipyard for repairs. Wagner's husband was in security and when the USS Essex [Annotator's Note: US Navy aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9)] was in dry dock they went beneath the ship and Wagner touched the bottom of the ship. She was assigned to one of the largest shipyards on the West Coast so all of the big ships went there for repairs.Wagner's brother was a navy dive bomber pilot and had told her how tough it was to land on a carrier. Her brother had entered the service about a year before she did with two friends. Both of his friends washed out of flight training but went on to have careers in the navy. Wagner’s brother, Chuck, was killed in action in the Philippines. Before he died he set up a set of parallel bars with a friend. When he tried to swing on them he fell and broke his arm and was taken to the medical facilities. The doctor who treated him was a friend of Wagner's father. When Chuck was killed the doctor wrote to Wagner's folks telling them how good of a man Chuck had been.Wagner met him [Annotator's Note: Wagner is referring to her brother Chuck] in San Francisco when he was going overseas. He told her that he didn't think he would be coming back but she assured him that he would.

Wagner's other brother was also in the Pacific and would write to the family telling them that he was trying to meet up with Chuck. Chuck was killed before her other brother could meet up with him.Many of the messages Wagner received were technical.She never went overseas but is still very proud to serve her country.Wagner's parents were from Czechoslovakia. She feels that many Southern families would not let their daughters join the service.In Wagner's neighborhood in Duluth there was a mix of nationalities.None of the messages Wagner decoded stand out to her.She has a scrapbook showing her before and after her service.They [Annotator’s Note: Wagner and her new husband] went home to Michigan and Minnesota but there were no jobs for a decoder and a security officer so they returned to the San Francisco area. They bought a lot in Redwood City, California and built a house on it with their own hands in 1948. The house cost them 6,000 dollars to build and they sold it in 1989 when they moved down south for 280,000 dollars and recently it sold for over one million dollars. The house across the street that they had paid 18,000 dollars sold for over one and a half million dollars. The Wagners’ lived in the San Francisco area for 45 years. Wagner's husband knew he was dying. Her husband didn't talk much about his service. She believes it is because he never went overseas. He told his brother in law that he would like to have Taps played at his service.When Wagner's husband, Joe, died, she was given a flag by a young man who then played Taps.The Wagner's were married for 59 years. They were both proud to have been in the service.President Roosevelt died while the Wagner's were making their wedding arrangements.Due to a summit of some sort Wagner's mother couldn't get a room and had to stay in the BOQ [Annotator's Note: US military acronym meaning Bachelor Officer's Quarters] with her. When her mother told her friends about where she was, she missed the last letter and told her friends that she was in the "BO with her daughter."The Wagners had a lot of laughs with their service.Wagner had been in the area where the Japanese had been put behind the fence. She went to Honolulu to see where the ships went down. She saw a lot of Japanese and wondered what they were thinking.

The Wagners served for about three and a half years. They got out of the service in 1946 and put the war behind them.For a time after leaving the service the Wagners lived in California, then moved to Colorado, and ended up here [Annotator's Note: in Louisiana].Most of Wagner's generation women were selfless and were trying to replace the men.Wagner got along well with the enlisted ranks. An enlisted friend met up with her and they went out one evening. Someone saw them together and reported them because it was against regulations for enlisted men and officers to fraternize. She went before a superior officer and defended herself for visiting with her friend.Wagner urges most young people to go to college.One of Wagner's sisters was very intelligent and talented but never finished college.The war taught Wagner that women could aspire to do what they wanted to do.The war showed people what citizens from all around the country were thinking. People travelled around and were able to learn the mindset of others.

The Wagner's hosted a student from Egypt and learned a lot about his religion.She feels that many people don't like Americans.Some people thank Wagner for being a World War II veteran.Having a National World War II Museum makes people very proud. The war made everyone proud to be in this country.