Rosheny Edathil
In the beginning of World War II, women should not have worked but rather stay
home and take care of their children. World War II allowed women to show men that
they were capable of working and doing their jobs just as well. Women were able to
experience the feeling of being independent and working to make money rather than
doing chores around the house and taking care of children. The military needed women to
take over men’s jobs in factories and clerical positions so the men would be able to fight
in the war. Many women did not like sitting around at home and wanted to take part and
help in the war effort. Over 500,000 women joined different military services such as
SPAR (Semper Paratus Always Ready), WASP ( Womens Airforce Service
Pilots),WAVES ( Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and the Army
Nurse Corps.
1
The WASP program began in 1943 and trained women to fight non-combat
missions. Julie Stege was one of the first women in history trained to fly military aircraft.
2
She was a dancer but changed her mind and decided that she wanted to help and do
what she could for her country. Julie scrutinized in the media just because she was a
dancer and left to join the Air Force but she did not care because she knew she wanted to
help in some way. Jacqueline Cochran was a very talented and well-known pilot at the
1
"DAUGHTERS OF ATHENA: AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE MILITARY DURING
WORLD WAR II." (2009): OAIster, EBSCOhost (accessed March 18, 2013).
https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=edsoai&AN=edsoai.631185695&site=eds-live&scope=site
2 Williams, R. “ World War Two Women Aviators Reminisce About Flying Army
Aircraft,” 28 March 2003.,
<http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=29208> ( 25 February 2013)
beginning of the war. 3 She was one of the main reasons why WASP was formed because
she convinced men that they could use the help of women in the air. Training was held in
Texas with about only 50% of the trainees making it to graduation.
Jacqueline Cochran was born and brought up in Florida where she had an
underprivileged childhood. She had to grow up with foster parents who were very mean
and didn’t show her much love. During her childhood years her name was actually Bessie
Pittman but later changed because she wanted to start new and leave her past behind her.4
She grew up learning to work hard and support herself throughout her youth and because
of this was not able to get a proper education. Cochran was inspired by some people to go
back to college where she became a beautician and later a nurse. As a nurse she went
back to her hometown to help the less fortunate people who were near and dear to her.
Cochran loved her job but felt like she was missing something in her life. She wanted
more freedom and adventure.
Along the way Cochran met a millionaire named Floyd Odlum who later became
her husband.5 He was her main support system and financial support as well for when she
had big goals in life such as flying. In 1932 Cochran received her pilots license and
started to fly in air races.6 The popular interest in air races and flying in general increased
in the 1920’s and 1930’s but many pilots still found it difficult to find a job. The public
3
Emily, Yellin. Our Mothers’ War. New York: Free Press, 2004, pg. 148-150.
Rhonda Smith-Daugherty, Jacqueline Cochran (Jefferson:McFarland & Company,
2012), pg.9-11
4
5
6
Ibid. (18)
Ibid. (20)
looked down upon women aviators and discriminated against them to discourage them
from flying. In the early 1900’s the military thought of the airplane as “dangerous
machinery” and thought women could not handle controlling one because of their
physical and emotional weakness. Cochran did not care about what people that about her
because she was flying for herself and to show her self-expression. She was nowhere near
a feminist, for she did not care about equality but rather freedom. Her ambitions and
dedication allowed her to be an ace flyer within a short amount of time by out flying
women and some men. By the end of the 1930’s she became America’s top woman pilot.
As a strong and adventurous woman, Cochran was always looking for new
challenges. She was the first woman to fly a military aircraft when she was asked to test
fly a p-35. Excitement and unbelief overwhelmed her but she was oblivious to the real
reason why she was being asked to test fly a plane. The company who made p-35’s
thought that if a woman could fly the plane well then surely the army would not have a
problem buying them for the war. Cochran knew that if she screwed up then the idea of
women pilots would be ruined. She was determined to succeed and did not let anything
get in the way of her flying. The speed and strength of the plane awed Cochran because
she had never flew anything like the p-35 before. 7
During World War II, Cochran was given permission to go over seas and serve in
the British Air force Auxiliary and contacted many registered women pilots in the U.S. to
see if they would like to help as well. When she came back to the U.S. she decided to
start a group called Womens Auxiliary Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) where she
trained women to fly for the military. The military was skeptical of women pilots but they
7
Ibid. (65-80)
were forced to allow them to fly because there was a shortage of pilots for combat
missions. The WFTD and the Womens Auxiliary Ferry Squadron (WAFS) merged
together to form the WASP program.8 The women pilots in these programs would test
military aircrafts, deliver planes to air bases, and tow targets. Although the women may
not have been head on in combat, there were still a great number of airplane crashes and
about 40 deaths. According to Cochran, “‘The WASP program was one of the most
important accomplishments of my flying career.’”9 The WASP program was wiped-out
when World War II ended because there was no need for women pilots anymore.
The public discriminated strongly against women pilots or even women who
worked in general during World War II. The idea of women tasting freedom and
independence was not something the public liked to see, especially the men. Cochran was
able to ignore the public so she was able to get further in her flying career than any other
woman at the time. She set her mind on doing something fun and adventurous while at
the same time helping in the war effort. She would not sit around to sell war bonds like
some women because she knew she could do more. Many men pilots looked down and
trash talked Cochran because some of them knew she was a better pilot than they and
were ashamed.
The Coast guard hired women in SPAR because the men had to transfer to the
U.S. Navy. About 11,000 women joined for the temporary position. The training for
SPAR was located in Florida, which was a nice location when training was in January.
“Most of the SPAR recruits served in Coast guard district offices or bases the U.S. near
8
9
Ibid. (95)
Ibid. (98)
the ocean coasts, and along the inland Mississippi River coast as well.” 10 The Spar
undertook a top-secret mission, which was called LORAN, or long-range aid to
navigation. “It is an electronic system that was developed when many lighthouses were
disabled during the war by coastal wartime blackouts and dim-outs required to avoid
enemy attack”. 11 The LORAN would transmit radio signals from two opposite point
with a ship in between to find the exact location of the ship. No one knew about LORAN
and the women in SPAR that helped with the system all took an intensive training course
at MIT. Once the war was ended, the women in SPAR were discharged and a few years
later SPAR no longer existed.
The WAVES program belonged to the Navy and was another temporary job. In
the names itself, people knew the program was temporary because of “Emergency
Service”. In order to be apart of the WAVES, women had to attend a volunteer program
in which approximately 86,000 women had joined.12 Most women chosen for the Navy
had come from professional jobs, but they only did work such as storekeeping and
clerical work.
Nurses were an essential part of the war because without them many soldiers who
were wounded from combat would die. The military did not allow women to work
10
Ibid. Emily Yellin, (144).
11
Ibid. (144).
12
Ibid. (137-142).
overseas so they worked in hospitals around the U.S. and cared for veterans and wounded
soldiers. After pearl harbor was hit the government realized they would need more nurses
for the war, so they offered free tuition for ladies who would go to school to be a nurse
and work for the military until the war was over.13 If women did not offer up their time to
be nurses and help the military, then many people would have suffered or lost their lives
because they did not get treated or bandaged up. Men should be forever grateful to
women for the sacrifices women made during the war and for the care they showed
toward the men in the war. Women may not have been the ones to be in the front line of
combat but they definitely played a huge role behind the actual war. Women did not only
have to be a nurse to help the soldiers, many women joined the Red Cross as volunteers
and helped collect blood and plasma while others packed food for the military overseas.
14
The Government at one point during the war used the media to influence women
to volunteer and help in the war effort by relieving men of work at home and sending
them to the military. There were many posters made that were supposed to encourage
women to work and also icons such as Rosie the riveter for women to be able to look up
to. Rosie the riveter was supposedly a woman of loyalty, efficiency, and hard worker
while at the same time being pretty.15 Many young and lower class women were the first
to join military jobs but eventually more women joined because they were able to make
more and help the war effort.
US Army Center of Military History, “The Army Nurse Corps”, 3 October 2003,
<http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/72-14/72-14.HTM>, (06 April 2013)
14 Ibid. (168).
15 Rosie the Riveter: Women During World War II, “The image and reality of Women
who worked during World War II”, n.d.
<http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/rosie.htm>, (06 April 2013)
13
As we see in many of these programs, women showed determination and strength
for being able to step up and take the place of men when they could not be around. They
showed their true capabilities during World War II and because of that many people were
able to see the need and use of women in the work force. The women proved themselves
in the war by helping their country and volunteering their time and service. Women who
did not join the military still helped in other ways such as raising money through
fundraisers back at home and taking care of business at home while the men were away
fighting.
Bibliography
"DAUGHTERS OF ATHENA: AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE MILITARY DURING
WORLD WAR II." (2009): OAIster, EBSCOhost (accessed March 18, 2013).
https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?dire
ct=true&db=edsoai&AN=edsoai.631185695&site=eds-live&scope=site
Emily, Yellin. Our Mothers’ War. New York: Free Press, 2004, pg. 148-150.
Rhonda Smith-Daugherty, Jacqueline Cochran (Jefferson:McFarland & Company,
2012), pg.9-11
Rosie the Riveter: Women During World War II, “The image and reality of Women
who worked during World War II”, n.d.
<http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/rosie.htm>, (06 April 2013)
US Army Center of Military History, “The Army Nurse Corps”, 3 October 2003,
<http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/72-14/72-14.HTM>, (06 April
2013)
Williams, R. “ World War Two Women Aviators Reminisce About Flying Army
Aircraft,” 28 March 2003.,
<http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=29208> ( 25 February
2013)