WAC (Women's Army Corps): "It's Your War Too" 1944 US Army World War II 9min
more at
http://quickfound.net/links/military_news_and_links
.html
Public domain film slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
US Army Film MISC-958
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Women's_Army_Corps
The Women's
Army Corps (
WAC) was the women's branch of the
United States Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (
WAAC) on 15 May
1942 by
Public Law 554, and converted to full status as the WAC in 1943. Its first director was
Oveta Culp Hobby, a prominent society woman in
Texas.
The WAAC organization was designed by numerous
Army bureaus coordinated by
Lt. Col. Gilman C. Mudgett, the first WAAC Pre-Planner. However, nearly all of his plans were discarded or greatly modified before going into operation because he expected a corps of only 11,
000 women.
The WAAC was modeled after comparable
British units, especially the
ATS, which caught the attention of
Chief of Staff George C. Marshall. In 1942, the first contingent of 800 members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps began basic training at
Fort Des Moines, Iowa. The women were fitted for uniforms, interviewed, assigned to companies and barracks and inoculated against disease during the first day.
A physical training manual was published by the
War Department in July 1943, aimed at bringing the women recruits to top physical standards. One section of the manual satirized a notional recruit named "
Josephine Jerk" who does not participate wholeheartedly: "Josephine Jerk is a limp number in every outfit who dives into her daily dozen with the crisp vitality of a damp mop." The manual begins by naming the responsibility of the women: "Your Job: To Replace
Men. Be
Ready To
Take Over."
About
150,000
American women served in the WAAC and WAC during
World War II. They were the first women other than nurses to serve with
the Army. While conservative opinion in the leadership of the Army and public opinion generally was initially opposed to women serving in uniform, the shortage of men necessitated a new policy. While most women served stateside, some went to various places around the
World, including
Europe,
North Africa and
New Guinea. For example, WACs landed on
Normandy Beach just a few weeks after the initial invasion.
Many men ferociously opposed allowing women in uniform, warning their sisters and friends they would be seen as lesbians or prostitutes. They feared that if women became soldiers they would no longer serve in a masculine preserve and their masculinity would be devalued.
Others feared being sent into combat units if women took over the safe jobs.
General Douglas MacArthur called the WACs "my best soldiers", adding that they worked harder, complained less, and were better disciplined than men. Many generals wanted more of them and proposed to draft women but it was realized that this "would provoke considerable public outcry and Congressional opposition" and the War Department declined to take such a drastic step. Those 150,000 women that did serve released the equivalent of 7 divisions of men for combat.
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower said that "their contributions in efficiency, skill, spirit, and determination are immeasurable".
During the same time period, other branches of the
U.S. military had similar women's units, including the
Navy WAVES, the
SPARS of the
Coast Guard and the (civil)
Women Airforce Service Pilots. The
British Armed Forces also had similar units, including the
Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
The WAC as a branch was disbanded in 1978. Women serving as WACs at that time converted their branches to whatever
Military Occupational Specialty they were working in. Since then, women in the
U.S. Army have served in the same units as men, though they have only been allowed in or near combat situations since
1994 when
Defense Secretary Les Aspin ordered the removal of "substantial risk of capture" from the list of grounds for excluding women from certain military units
...