Comment by Dick Eastman: I am sorry I was unable to attend this presentation by Dr. John Nestor. It sounds interesting.

You see, I spent my military service as a Viet Nam Era Cryptologist. I never considered those four years as being exciting or even interesting. In fact, I always thought it was 4 year’s of boredom. I suspect the “good ol’ years”  of cryptography during World War II were much more interesting.

A note to Dr. John Nestor (if you ever read this article): If you ever give this talk again in the future, please let me know. I would like to attend, regardless of the amount of travel involved:

From an article in the recordherald web site: “Dr. John Nestor presented the program “Ada Nestor World War II Cryptologist” during the Aug. 19 meeting of the Fayette County Genealogical Society (of Uniontown, Pennsylvania). Ada Nestor was Dr. Nestor’s mother, and during World War II, she became a “Code Girl” deciphering enemy codes.

“Ada lived on a farm with her family in West Viginia in 1942 when she answered a generic advertisement for young women willing to work for the Army in Clarksburg, WV. She thought it was a chance to get off the farm. Little did she know that it would be serious top-secret classified work. After being tested, she made the cut to be a code girl and was shipped to Washington D.C. for training and work that had to be memorized, there were no books or notes allowed.

“The code girls themselves were considered top secret. They were never allowed to reveal what work they really did or talk about their work. They were never allowed to go out alone. They were always to be in a group. Dr. Nestor said that his mother took her service oath seriously and never spoke of her service even after her service days were over. It was only when he was an adult that an article came out in the Readers Digest about Code Girls that had reference to the Purple Code that he really found out about his mother’s service. She was really upset that the Purple Code was in the article. She felt that the Purple Code developed and used by the coders should forever remain classified. The Code Girls were a valuable and an important element in the defense in WWII, breaking down the communications of the enemy forces which was instrumental in leading to an ally victory.

“Dr. Nestor is a local consultant whose resume includes being the executive vice president of Riten Industries, implementing school safety plans, and developing college security systems. Dr. Nestor, who has authored books depicting the subjects of his work, has been recognized for outstanding work, and leadership.

“The next meeting of the society will be held on Monday, Sept. 16 in the downstairs meeting room of the Economic Development Building 101 E. East St., Washington Court House at 7 p.m. The program will be our “Annual Sharing Night.” Members and guests are invited to bring family heirlooms or keepsakes, family pictures, family history or community history stories, or any item or story of interest to share. This is always a fun and interesting meeting.”