Ruth Knutson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in December 1921. She was an only child, but her mother and father had large families, so she had lots of extended family and friends. Her father owned three gas stations. During the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], her father lost one of the gas stations. She had to save the little money that she would get. She went to the movies and often found ways to entertain herself with friends. Knutson was aware of the rising hostilities in Europe and Asia because her father was a World War 1 veteran and kept her updated. She knew that America would be involved at some point, and she was very patriotic. She remembered when the draft started for the men, and there were talks about the military having female groups as well. She was eager to join the military. Though her mother opposed it, Knutson’s father encouraged her to do so. She first heard the news about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] when she left the theater. She bought a special newspaper and read about the event. She told her friend immediately that she was going to join the fight. She was furious about the attack. Her mother finally relented and let her join the WAVES [Annotator's Note: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service; United States Naval Women's Reserve] over the WAC [Annotator's Note: Women's Army Corps; women's branch of the United States Army, 1942 to 1978] because the Navy had a better reputation at the time.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], Ruth Knutson enlisted in the WAVES [Annotator's Note: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service; United States Naval Women's Reserve]. She did not have any concerns about leaving home and going to boot camp. After completing bootcamp, she was sent to a women’s college outside of New York City [Annotator’s Note: New York City, New York]. She then received officer’s training and learned secretarial duties. She did not enjoy officer training school because she could not associate with enlisted men. She had no adjustment to military life. She liked the regimented environment. After she finished her training, she was stationed at the Naval Recruiting Station in Chicago, Illinois. She spent her days collecting personal information from and administering aptitude tests to new recruits. She worked long hours, sometimes late into the night. After the war, she met a few men she had drafted throughout the years. Part of her job was to go on trips to recruit men and women. She felt that her work was a necessity and was proud to contribute to the war effort.

Ruth Knutson was in WAVES [Annotator's Note: Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service; United States Naval Women's Reserve] and celebrated all night long when she heard the news that the war in Europe had ended. She felt she contributed a great deal to the war effort by working in an administrative role. Some women in the service gave military women a bad name by their behavior, but most women in the service acted well. [Annotator’s Note: Interviewee asks interviewer if she gets to review the interview before it is published.] Her husband-to-be proposed to her on their first date night. Her response was, “Are you nuts?” They married after she was discharged in 1946 [Annotator’s Note: with the rating of Yeoman Second Class].

Ruth Knutson thought World War 2 was “a necessary fun”, and she met her husband because of the war. She would not change one moment of her experience, and she would go back if she had to. She served because she thought it was her patriotic duty. The war completely changed her life. She was going steady with a boy, and when he found out that she wanted to join the service, he stopped talking to her. Her service means a lot today and she would go back if the military needed volunteers. She thinks the war does not mean much to America today and believes that there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.

While Ruth Knutson was in WAVES, her husband-to-be was drafted. He was a baseball player for the Chicago White Sox. Because he was athletic, he was assigned as an instructor at a base. He eventually became a pilot and was stationed in Texas. Knutson met him when he came to Chicago on leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] with some friends. They went to her recruiting officer because his friend needed some information. Knutson had just returned from the recruiting trip and happened to be there when her husband-to-be entered the recruiting station. Her first thought when he walked through the door was, “I want to marry him.” She refused to go out on a date with him when he asked, but he was persistent and eventually she gave in. She was housed in a stone house that was owned by a wealthy man in Chicago [Annotator’s Note: Chicago, Illinois].