How soon we forget

There is a cranky old lady lives in this old folks home with me.  She hogs the laundry room, she moves my clothes out of the dryer before they are finished. She seems always to be there when I go to do my washing. 

She grumbles about everything, the service, the house keeping and especially the food.  She can't eat this or that, and she thinks there is a conspiracy against her because cinnamon rolls are made with cinnamon and she can't eat cinnamon.

In this same home with me is a hero from WWII.  She was a Wave, a woman serving in the navy, assigned to special unit in or near Washington D.C.  It was a secret outfit, and the Waves were isolated from other units. They billeted in special areas and, in those precomputer days, listened and transcribed thousands of Japanese radio transmissions.  Their assignment lasted for months, and they were told it was 'death' if their mission leaked out. 

At last the team, listening, transcribing, and analysing, broke the Japanese Navy Code, and because the Japanese did not know it, the U.S. Navy had information that saved thousands of American lives.  At the end of the war a high official gathered them and told them what they had done and they received a special citation.

And in case you haven't guessed, this war hero, and this cranky old lady, are the same person.