Palmetto Report

(Rock Hill, S.C.) -- Jeuel Bannister Esmacher was a junior at Winthrop University -- known then as Winthrop College -- in 1943 when the military took over Bancroft Hall to set up classes and living space for the Army Air Corps Cadet Training Program. It was at that time, during the height of World War II, when Esmacher, now 97, was first introduced to cryptology. Esmacher -- who currently lives in Anderson, but grew up in Starr, S.C. -- was one of 10,000 women who worked for the Army and Navy as codebreakers during World War II. Her story was unknown, until it was featured in the 2017 award-winning and New York Times best-selling book, "Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II," which interviewed several women about their secret work during the war. The Palmetto Report's Audrey Burriss speaks with Esmacher about her experience as a codebreaker.