March is National Woman’s Month

It was just five years ago in 1917 that we celebrated the 100th anniversary of New York State women winning the right to vote, three years before the 19th Amendment was passed. We found many women who made significant achievements, but after a recent conversation with a friend of mine, it occurred to me that we were remiss by not stressing the women who served in the military. My friend’s license plates show that she is a veteran; yet some people who notice them will approach her and say, “Tell your husband I said thank-you for serving”. 

From as far back as the Revolutionary War women joined their husbands on the battlefields. They were known as camp followers; doing the cooking, laundry, nursing the wounded and when necessary, even using ramrods to load the cannons. It wasn’t unusual that women on both the Union and Confederate sides disguised themselves as men in order to take active part in the war. Some even served as spies and saboteurs and that was just the beginning for women to show the world how badass they can be.

During World War I, the Army Nurses Corps of more than twenty-one thousand nurses served in military hospitals here and overseas. Between 1914-1918, the Department of the Navy created a Naval Reserve Force and employed enlisted women as “Yeomenettes”, later shortened to Yeomen, for clerical positions to free men to fight. At the end of the “War to end all Wars”, enlisted women were demobilized and nurses were reduced in number; but the Army hired some as stenographers and bilingual phone operators, called “Hello Girls”.

By 1925 the wording on the Naval Reserve Act that authorized the enlistment of “citizens,” was changed to read, “male citizens,” ensuring that the Navy would not enlist women again without the express approval of Congress. It was difficult for some men to think of women in service to do more than routine, low status jobs. In 1938, a male officer wrote, “Women’s probable jobs would include those of hostess, librarians, canteen clerks, cooks and waitresses, chauffeurs, messengers and strolling minstrels.”

After the United States entered World War II on Dec. 8, 1941 against Japan, and on December 11 on Germany and Italy, traditional roles for women at home underwent a dramatic change. Looking like a “Rosie the Riveter” poster with their hair wrapped in scarves, many of them worked in factories using heavy machinery such as lathes, drills and more. They filled jobs formerly held by the men who went to war and even learned to ignore slanderous remarks by people who couldn’t get used to seeing women anywhere but in the home. 

Early in 1941, the Army created the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). It was run by the Army, but was not officially part of the Army. After issues over pay and other problems arose, another bill was passed in Congress in 1943 to establish the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) with full military status. The WAAC were given the option to transfer to the WAC or go home. 

1942 proved to be an eventful year for significant advancements for women in the military with the following being established: In July, the Navy Women’s Reserve was formed as Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) and became an official part of the Navy; The Marine Corps Women’s Reserves was also authorized under the same law (USMCWR).

In September, the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron was formed to deliver new aircraft from factories to embarkation ports to ferry planes to and from stateside locations. It was later known as Women in the Air Force (WAF); In 1943 it was combined with the Women’s Flying Training Detachment and became the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP). November 1942 the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve was established, using the acronym SPAR (Semper Paratus – Always Ready). 

At the end of the war, the years 1945-1946 were known as the Reconversion Period, when it was necessary for America to transition from massive industrial production of war and military needs to peacetime consumer products. At the same time, many of the women left their wartime jobs and were replaced by servicemen returning home. 

In the 1960s the Women’s Movement thundered in and caused a boom that was heard for years by way of empowering them to become more vocal and confident regarding their equal rights in the workplace and in public life. In the 1970s, more women than men joined the Military to take advantage of the increasing opportunities offered to them. As a result, the Navy was the first service to select women for flight training. Two years later, the Air Force followed suit.

Then, in 1976, President Gerald Ford signed a law allowing women to be accepted into Military Academies. Our very own Rebecca Halstead, from Candor was the first Tioga County woman to be accepted to West Point in 1977 and went on to become a Brigadier General.

The Persian Gulf War saw the largest wartime deployment of women in the history of the armed forces with forty-one thousand sent to Kuwait. At first women were not allowed in ground combat, on ships or on aircraft, but that exclusion was repealed. It was just the beginning, as others were repealed, opening doors to women in service.

During the Desert Fox Operation in 1998, women aviators were allowed to fly over combat zones for the first time in history.  Since the start of the military campaign against Afghanistan in 2001 and in Iraq in 2003, more than 20,000 women were deployed to those regions. The Navy lifted its ban on women on submarines in 2010. Today, there are more female applicants for submarines than there are accommodations such as providing living quarters (known as billets) for them on the subs. 

Of course, there were and are other conflicts, interventions, invasions, operations and wars; unfortunately, it seems that there always will be. There are literally thousands of women and amazing stories about their lives and deaths in service. In honor of National Women’s Month, we are more than grateful to the women who started out by defending us with ramrods and cannonballs to fighter jets and advanced military technology of today. Thank you!