Muriel (Vanderwalker) Helsel was born on Apr. 24, 1919 in Bisbee, Arizona, and grew up in Los Angeles. She married Rolland A. Helsel on Apr. 2, 1940, and shortly thereafter he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve. The navy soon sent him to Harvard Business School for course work, and following that Rolland was commissioned in the U.S. Navy, eventually being assigned to Pearl Harbor, specifically to the U.S.S. Pennsylvania. The young couple arrived in Hawaii just days before the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Muriel discusses the attack in detail, as well as her employment on Ford Island in the Public Works Department. Her husband worked as the Incoming Stores Officer (logistics) in Hawaii throughout the war, while Muriel worked for most of the war as a stenographer at Director, Pacific Division, Bureau of Yards and Docks with Mr. John Delany. She also discussed life in Hawaii during the war, and the impact that the Navy's victory at Midway had with conditions in Hawaii afterward.
From the description of An interview with Muriel Helsel [sound recording] / Muriel Helsel ; Mark R. DePue, interviewer. 2007. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 191731003
