Women in the MilitaryBy Connie LenzenAn article published in the 7 July 2005 issue of the Vancouver Columbian. |
Women have historically served in military service. Sometimes they were camp
followers and took care of the cooking and laundry for the soldiers. Sometimes
they cut their hair and adopted the dress of a man so they could pass as a
soldier. Often, they would serve as nurses.
The information about women in the military before World War II is meager.
During World War II, women’s service changed. They were recruited, and
they enlisted in the military to free up service men for combat. Their usual
term of service was for the duration of the war and six months. It was assumed
that the men who were relieved by the women would be back at their regular
jobs during these six months. The jobs that the women took were generally
ones women were considered capable of performing. They were mainly clerical
jobs or ones requiring attention to detail and small motor skills.
Women served in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps, Women’s Army Corps (WAC),
Amy Air Forces, the Navy as Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service
(WAVES), in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve, and in the Coast Guard
(SPARS). The Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS) were an exception to the
“women’s work” concept. They piloted airplanes.
The women who participated in the Armed Forces during World War II changed
the way that the United States government looked at women in the military.
They were a valuable part of the Armed Forces.
Lloyolla Miller, a SPAR, enlisted in 1943. On March 27, 1944, she wrote home
to her parents and proudly penned, “I have released another man for sea
duty, down at the office – how’m I doing? The men are leaving right
& left now.”
If you have an aunt, a great-aunt, a mother, or a grandmother who served
in the military, it is time to record their story. It’s time to take
the oral history and to locate military service records.
There are links to several websites on the “Females in the Military”
section of Cyndi’s List to Internet Resources, online at http://www.cyndislist.com/female.htm#Military.
One website worth visiting is the “The Women’s in Military Service
for America Memorial,” online at http://www.womensmemorial.org/. Along
with the collections of stories and photographs, there is a place where you
can order a guide to taking an oral interview of military women ($5.00 fee).
The National Archives cites several online articles on their “Military Resources: Women in the Military” section, online at http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/women.html.
© 2006
Connie Lenzen, CG
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