Articles from our Members
Joining the WAC
by Carolyn HansonA year ago, I came to the annual Fort Indiantown Gap WWII weekend, dressed in a rare women’s British uniform. There is a separate women’s barracks, so this is where I stayed. My husband also attended with his Canadian group. I had the option of hanging out with his unit, as they were going to train in the barracks for most of the weekend. With my impression I could not join them out in the battlefield of course, but I could sit in on their training sessions and such. It was nice of them to accommodate me – but it wasn’t what I really wanted to get out of FIG. I got to watch them drill, and I learned some interesting facts about the Canadian forces, but not much that involved either me or my impression. At the end of the day, I felt like a spectator.
As I retired to the women’s quarters in the evenings, I saw that most of the other females had brought scads of fancy dresses, and seemed to use this time to experiment with 1940’s fashion. But my primary interest was always the armed forces, and those who served with them in the war. To my surprise, there was another group of women here who shared this interest: USMWHI.
I lay on my bunk drifting off to sleep, and listened in on whatever I could overhear from their meeting. I noticed that every bunk in their section was done military style, very neat, and wished I knew how they did it. And these women seemed to know the military rules about one’s hair not extending past the collar, etc. What I heard from their meeting only made me more curious, for they were at least as serious and organized as my husband’s unit meetings. But they seemed to really have fun too. They struck me as the most authentic women’s group there.
By the next FIG, I had contacted the unit and arranged to be outfitted in U.S. Women’s Army Corps (WAC) field gear for the event. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this excited about a reenactment – I felt like I was really doing something for the first time in a while, not just coming to ‘hang out’. Well, I was right! The whole group was put to work helping to load the busses out to the battlefield each morning. Then we drilled – and this was no spectator sport. Finally I learned from an actual drill instructor how to march right, how to salute right, and in general how to depict a member of the military with honor. It was an opportunity I had never had with the men’s units, or on my own. There was no longer any reason to assume that I was merely ‘along for the ride’ with my husband – I was there to represent the WACs, as best I could. Truly, if I had joined the WWII forces in the 1940s, a WAC is most likely what I would have been. This is a chance for me to explore not just what others have done for our country, but what I could have done myself if born into the same era.
As I develop my impression, I plan to study more about the U.S. women’s forces in WWII, and get more involved in veterans’ activities. I was very impressed that members of USMWHI visited a veterans’ hospital before the event, and also helped to facilitate some of the special plans for veterans attending the FIG weekend. I know from experience how much it means to them to see that people really remember, and want to learn and teach about what they went through in the war. It’s well worth the time, and this is proof how much fun you can have while doing it.
Unsung Heroes
by Jennifer "Needles" CraigWhen someone mentions unsung heroes, our first thought is usually of the men in the trenches, literally or figuratively, who fight it out day after day during the long war with no medals or parades to show for it. While this is partially true, all soldiers are thought of as heroes, at least by most of us. The true unsung heroes of WWII are the women in uniform.
Women of today think that they have a difficult time asserting themselves in “this man’s Army”. They have no idea what the military women pioneers had to endure. Back then, it was thought that a woman’s place was in the home. Secretarial work, nursing and teaching were among the few accepted fields for women. When the call went out for women to join the war effort, many were hesitant. Their friends and families told them it wasn’t their place. Society, led by the sensationalist media, made these brave women out to be “loose”, jezebels and harlots. Even today, the families of many women find out about their service only after their deaths, because of the shame they were made to feel by their peers. We need to let them know how much their service means to us now before it is too late.
It is for this reason that I do what I do. When my coworkers ask me why I am driving 6 hrs after work on Friday to camp without electricity, sleep on a cot, and march in uncomfortable boots, I say it is to let people know that women were there. Our presence at these events brings awareness to the public and hopefully some long overdue recognition for the veterans. The inconvenience I experience for one weekend is nothing compared to the sacrifices made by these extraordinary women. In a time when most women had never been further away from home than the next town over, these pioneers were serving overseas. While their friends were keeping up appearances, they were keeping their heads down during the shelling. And while the men have been lauded in ceremony after ceremony, they have been suffering in silence.
Now is the time to turn the spotlights on and bring their accomplishments into the light – US Military Women Historical Impressions – for all that they gave.