businessofart:

coolchicksfromhistory:

MSNBC has discovered the history behind the top photo.

The women pictured are from left to right: Elizabeth Moku, Alice Cho, Katherine Lowe, and Hilda Van Gieson.  The photo was taken during a training exercise for female civilian workers at Pearl Harbor during the war.  

Katherine Lowe (bottom photo) still lives in Hawai’i today.  She volunteered for a civilian job at Pearl Harbor after the attack and was trained to fight fires.  She says, “We were rugged. We carried heavy stuff, oil drums, bags, anything that needed to be stored.”

Elizabeth Moku was one of Katherine’s best friends and Katherine’s children called her Aunt Moku.  Elizabeth died in 1986.  

Little is known about the other two women, Alice Cho and Hilda Van Gieson, but they are believed to have passed away.

The whole MSNBC article is worth reading for more details.  Thanks to Fixed Sash for letting me know the mystery has been solved.