Women Veterans Memorial

The Army Nurse Corps was established in 1901 and Navy Nurses in 1908. American Red Cross nurses recruited and trained these nurses during World War I. Other women serving during World War I were 12,000 Navy Yoemanettes and few Coast Guard and Marinets. The Army refused to have women serve. They increased female civilian employees instead. Between WWI and WWII the only women considered part of the military were nurses. In 1942, Congress authorized the establishment of Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Services (WAVES) and Women's Army Corps (WACS.) In 1943 women were able to join the Coast Guard, Marines or WASPS. Approximately 400,000 young ladies served through 1945. Only nurses and WACS were allowed overseas. WAVES and WACS replaced the men in every possible billet. They served as code breakers, translator, mechanics, parachute riggers and in every conceivable billet. In 1948 the WAVES became a permanent part of the regular Navy and the WACS were integrated into the regular Army. At the present time they are active in combat and sea duty. Today 800,000 women are an integral part of United States armed forces.

BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN IN MILITARY SERVICE FOR THE UNITED STATES

Women have gone openly to war from the earliest call to arms. Although originally considered "regimental ornaments or guardian angels" they served as water carriers in the Revolutionary War and as nurses, spies, cooks and laundresses in the Civil War. As in all wars, nurses were there from the start, but were not considered a part of the military until the early 1900's-(Army Nurse Corp established February 2, 1901, Navy Nurse Corps established May 13, 1908.) American Red Cross nurses recruited and trained the bulk of Army and Navy nurses during World War I. Other women serving during WWI were Navy Yeomanettes (12,500) a few Coast Guard, Marine Corps Marinets (300), YMCA physicians, Salvation Army workers and Motor Corps Drivers. The Army refused to let enlisted women serve, instead allowed an increase in their civilian employees. Except for nurses, all women were demobilized after WWI. The manpower shortages in WWII saw the emergence of recognized women's auxiliaries to the Army (WAAC's 5/11/42, changed to WAC's 7/1/43), Navy (WAVES 7/30/42), Coast Guard (SPARS 11/23/42), Marines (women's reserve 2/13/43) and Air Force Service Pilots (WASPS 8/5/43.) There were about 30,000 w0men who served during the first World War, with 350,000 in World War II. Restrictive laws reduced the ranks of active duty women in the military to approximately 15,000 by the start of the Korean War in 1950. By early 1952, although these figures has more than doubled, no military women, only nurses, were allowed to serve in an actual combat zone. However by the end of the Vietnam War, 7,500 women had served in combat zones and for the first time included not only women in administrative positions but in numerous non-medical positions as well. Women are now an integral part of today's military, totaling 720,036 (35.4%) of the 2.034,000 combined United States forces.

SOURCES: Article in the 11/1/95 IO-WA-VETS unit #84 newsletter 7/15/93 article by Harry Summers in "The Washington Times" 50th Anniversary WAVES Calendar issued in 1992 WIMSA 1996 Calendar honoring military women of WWI