radioman first class, US Navy, barbara jean (BJ) smith brand 

Born: February 7, 1923, Odebolt, Iowa
Died: July 14, 2007, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Radioman 1^st Class Barbara Jean Smith Brand joined the US Navy as one of the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), though precisely when isn’t clear.¹ Being in communications is a vital role; a naval radioman sends and receives encrypted and plain-language messages as well as messages received in Morse code through earphones they must record by typewriter. They must transmit messages either by microphone or telegraph key (Morse code) and be able to make basic repairs to the equipment.² So vital is this role, that training takes nineteen weeks.³ RM Smith was stationed first in New York and later in San Francisco.⁴ It was in San Francisco that she met and married a young Navy radioman in 1945.⁵ It would appear that RM Smith Brand was honorably discharged from Norfolk, Virginia, sometime in 1946.⁶

Barbara Jean was born on February 7, 1923, to US Weather Service Meteorologist Harlan Smith and his wife Lettie in Odebolt, Iowa. The family moved to Idaho very soon after.⁷ She grew up in Idaho with her sister, they had an accordion and acrobatic act they performed together.⁸

Joining the Navy was an obvious decision since Smith Brand’s father had served in the Navy during World War I.⁹ While in the Navy, she met J. Norman Brand, also a radioman, and they were married. He was released from the Navy in 1947 and they lived in her hometown of Pocatello, Idaho where her husband sold cars.^10,11 Their two daughters were born while they were in Idaho.¹² At this time, Smith Brand was thinking of joining the women’s support group of Beta Sigma Phi.¹³ Smith Brand’s husband was called up again for the Korean War in 1950, and she began her tour of duty as a Navy wife.¹⁴

And it was definitely a tour. By late 1951, the whole family was on the way to Guam.^15,16 They returned from Guam, by way of Hawaii, on their way to Washington, D.C.^17,18 In 1957 the Brand family was temporarily in Pocatello again, but it was not long before the family departed for Germany.¹⁹ Smith Brand herself returned briefly the following year for her father’s funeral.^20,21 After the family’s return from Germany they spent time in Connecticut and Japan before living at the Naval Command Base in Hawaii. In Honolulu, Smith Brand worked as a speech therapist for the Variety Club School until her husband retired from the Navy in 1969.²²

Once retired from the Navy, the family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her husband went back to selling cars, and Smith Brand continued her career as a speech therapist first at the University of New Mexico Mental Health Center and then for Albuquerque Public Schools.^23,24,25 Beyond her career, the energetic Smith Brand raised three children and was part of the Daughters of the American Revolution, WAVES Roadrunner Unit #4, and the American Legion.^26,27 She also participated in bowling, golf, and gardening.²⁸ Since it’s hard to keep a WAVES veteran down, Smith Brand also volunteered at the New Mexico Veteran’s Memorial and as a Veteran’s Health Care Auxiliary.²⁹ In retirement, Smith Brand and her husband not only continued to bowl and golf, but they also participated in local elections as the precinct board members for their local polling station in elections.^30,31

Barbara Jean (BJ) Smith Brand passed away on July 14, 2007, only seven months after she lost her beloved husband.^32,33

Images & Documents

Notes:

1. The gravestone of RM1c Smith Brand gives her the rank of MN1c or Mineman 1^st Class, but the family remembers her being in radio communications and she is listed as a former RM2c in the only contemporary source I have found, but the SFNC database has her as RM1c, so I have chosen to list her as a RM1c.

2 & 3. “US Navy Interviewer’s Classification Guide.” Naval History and Heritage Command. 20 July 2020. Official US Navy site.

4 & 5. “Brand, BJ.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 20 July 2007. sec D p 6.

6. “Brand.” National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: American Falls, Power, Idaho; Roll: 2001; Page: 19; Enumeration District: 39-3. Their son was born in 1947, and no woman with a dependent could be in the WAVES. Once pregnant, a woman was honorably discharged, though it is equally likely that Smith Brand was released before her pregnancy.
7. “Smith, Harlan.” Year: 1930; Census Place: Baker City, Baker, Oregon; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 0004; FHL microfilm: 2341673.
8. “Brand, BJ.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 20 July 2007. sec D p 6.
9. “Harlan Smith Dies Here at 61.” Idaho State Journal. Pocatello, Idaho. 17 March 1958. p. 2.
10. “Joseph N. Brand.” Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

11 & 12. “Brand.” National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: American Falls, Power, Idaho; Roll: 2001; Page: 19; Enumeration District: 39-3.

13. “Beta Sigma Phi Pledges Attend Sorority Meeting.” Idaho State Journal. Pocatello, Idaho. 8 October 1950. p. 23.
14. “Joseph N. Brand.” Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
15. “Brand, Mrs. Barbara J.” The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series: A3496.
16. “Around Town.” Idaho State Journal. Pocatello, Idaho. 13 November 1951. p. 11.
17. “Brand, Barbara.” National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At Honolulu, Hawaii, Compiled 02/13/1900 – 12/30/1953; NAI Number: A4156; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 – 2004; Record Group Number: RG 85.

18 & 19. “Brand Norm Brand.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 5 January 2007. sec D p 7.

20. “Brand, Barbara.” The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Series Title: Passenger and Crew Manifests of Airplanes Arriving At Newark, New Jersey; NAI Number: A4112; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2009; Record Group Number: 85.
21. “Here from Germany.” Idaho State Journal. Pocatello, Idaho. 30 March 1958. p. 26.
22. Both obituaries, for Smith Brand and her husband, note this.
23. “Meet Norm Brand.” Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 15 February 1973. sec G p 4.
24. Prather, Grace M. “One Dose Responsibility Two of Love Aid Youngsters.” Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 5 March 1972. sec B. p. 1.

25 & 26. “Brand, BJ.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 20 July 2007. sec D p 6.

27. “Daughters of the American Revolution.” Albuquerque Tribune. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 18 October 2001. sec B p. 2.

28 & 29. “Brand, BJ.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 20 July 2007. sec D p 6.

30. “Legals.” Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 16 September 1997. sec C p. 13.
31. “Senior Olympics: Bowling.” Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 2 May 1996. sec D p. 2.
32. “Brand Norm Brand.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 5 January 2007. sec D p 7.
33. “Brand, BJ.” Albuquerque Journal: Obituaries. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 20 July 2007. sec D p 6.

Compiled by: A. D. McLean, MA, MLIS. Central New Mexico Community College, retired 2022.

Featured Image:

“Mrs. J. Norman Brand in uniform.” Richmond News Leader. Richmond, Virginia. 16 January 1946. p. 20.