American Women American Women in in World War 2

Agenda• “Rosie the Riveter”• WASP

(featuring Konley Kelley, CAF)• Nurses

(featuring Andy Tubbs)• USO• Homefront/volunteerism• Concluding Thoughts• Your stories• Pictures with “Rosie”

American Women American Women in in World War 2February 27, 2013

American Women American Women in in World War 2Origin of “Rosie the Riveter”Credit Frances Perkins, the nation’s fourth Secretary of Labor (and the first woman to serve in a President’s Cabinet) with the birth of “Rosie the Riveter.” Secretary Perkins resisted the idea floated in the Roosevelt Administration of drafting American women to serve in the military in WW2.She believed that women would serve the war effort better (and get a foothold in “non-traditional” jobs) if they could enter the civilian workforce in greatly expanded numbers and do many of the jobs left behind by men who went overseas to fight. During the war, millions of American women went to work in factories, many of whom produced aircraft, armored vehicles, munitions and war supplies.This is their story….

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American Women American Women in in World War 2

Your host “Rosie the Riveter”

American Women American Women in in World War 2What was going on in the world before WW2?

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What was it like to be a woman before the war?

Artist: Norman Rockwell

American Women American Women in in World War 2

Setting the stage – World War II begins December 7, 1941

Pearl Harbor

War in Europe begins

September 1, 1939

American Women American Women in in World War 2

Recruitment Posters

J. Howard Miller1943 Poster

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Introducing“Rosie”

Artist: Norman Rockwell

American Women American Women in in World War 2Willow Run Plant:

Ford Motor Company

Willow Run produced one B-24 per hour during peak production

Pilots slept on 1,300 cots waiting for the B-24s to roll off the assembly line. And hey – a good number of the pilots were female. We’ll hear more about that later.

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Rosie sure learned a lot..….Bucker: a person who uses bucking bar on the other side of the metal to smooth out the rivets.

Riveter: a gun used to shoot rivets through the metal and fasten it together or the person who uses the tool.

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Quitten time…..

American Women American Women in in World War 2Rosie with the CAF

B-29/B-24 Squadron

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Signing inside “FIFI”

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Post War

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Women Airforce Service Pilots W.A.S.P.

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Konley Kelley, CAF

88 year-old James ClarkB-29 Bombardier500th BG/20th Air Forceback in his seat 66 years later

www.cafb29b24.org

B-24 Liberator

B-29 Superfortress

C-45Expeditor

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Setting the stageJuly, 1937 Amelia Earhart disappears over the

Pacific

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Two amazing women

Jackie Cochran Nancy Harkness Love

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“Speed Queen”Jackie Cochran

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Nancy Harkness Love

American Women American Women in in World War 2

Civilian Pilot Training ProgramJune, 1939 U.S. Government establishes the Civilian Pilot Training Program. The program provides pilot training across the country and allows for one woman to be trained for every ten men.

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The demand for male combat pilots and warplanes left the Air Transport Command with a shortage of experienced pilots to ferry planes from factory to point of embarkation. ATC officers remember Nancy Harkness Love’s proposal and hired her to recruit 25 of the most qualified women in the country to ferry military aircraft. These pilots were called the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS)General Henry “Hap” Arnold, Commanding General of the Army Air Forces approves a program to train a large group of women to serve as ferrying pilots. The training school Is placed under the direction of Jackie Cochran. It is called the Army Air Forces Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD)

1942 - Two ideas take flight

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Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)On August 5, 1943, the WAFS and the WFTD were merged and renamed the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Jackie Cochran was appointed Director and Nancy Harkness Love was named WASP Executive with the Air Transport Command Ferrying Division.

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WASP Uniform

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WASP Cornelia Fort

Scene from TORA! TORA! TORA! (1970)

American Women American Women in in World War 2

WASP facts•WASP served in the Army Air Forces from September 1942 to December, 1944.•WASP pilots were stationed at 120 Army Air bases in the United States and near most major aircraft factories.•WASP flew 78 different aircraft in the Army Air Corps including the B-29.•WASP flew 60 million total miles of operational flights.•Flying duties included ferrying, engineering tests,

demonstration, check pilot, safety pilot, administrative, flight instructor, target towing for anti-aircraft, target towing for aerial gunner practice, tracking, searchlight missions, simulated strafing and radio-controlled flights.

•WASP earned $150.00 per month while in training and $250.00 per month after graduation. They paid for their own food, uniforms and lodging.

American Women American Women in in World War 2

WASP disbandedUnfortunately the WASP were hired under Civil Service. Jackie Cochran and General Arnold had intended the women pilots to be made part of the military but the need for pilots was so great and the road to militarization too slow – requiring an act of Congress. By the time the bill was put before Congress in late 1944, the need for pilots had lessened. Men were needed in the infantry. Male pilots had no desire to join this branch of service. A move to disband the WASP took hold. The WASP militarization bill was defeated by 19 votes in the House of Representatives. The WASP were deactivated on December 20, 1944.

American Women American Women in in World War 2

WASP Bee Haydu

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WASP receive Veteran statusPresident Jimmy Carter signs the The G.I. Bill Improvement Act of 1977, granting the WASP full military status for their service on November 23, 1977July 1, 2009, President Barack Obama signs a bill to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). 

WASP / Congressional Gold Medal

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WASP Dora Dougherty and “Ladybird”

Dora DoughertyDorothea "Didi" Moormanwith Lt. Col. Paul Tibbets

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Dora Dougherty Strother

Debbie Travis King, Barry Vincent, David Oliver, Dora Dougherty Strother, Tracy Toth, and “FIFI”

Dora Dougherty Strother and Debbie Travis King

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Debbie Travis King 3rd woman in historyto qualify to pilota B-29 SuperfortressSeptember 17, 2012First B-29 pilot in the CAF

Debbie Travis King and Tracy Tothin their WASP commemorative uniforms

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Like Father, like Daughter

Tom Travis and Debbie Travis King

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National Museum of WASP, Sweetwater, TX

http://waspmuseum.org/

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Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) Exhibit at TWU Blagg-Huey Library, Denton, Texas

http://www.twu.edu/library/wasp.asp

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Nurses in WW2

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Setting the StagePrior to WW2, 1,000 nurses filled the ranks of the Army Nurse Corps. Roughly 700 nurses were in the Navy Nurse Corps.By the end of WW2, there were over 54,000 Army Nurse Corps and 11,000 Navy Nurse Corps – all were women.Nurses in WW2 served in every theater of combat and closer to the front lines than ever before in field hospitals, hospital ships, hospital trains, and as flight nurses aboard medical planes.

Hospital Ship Dinard in the English Channel

Flight nurse

Nurse at field hospital

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Captain Lucille Rosedale Tubbs USAF (retired)Presented by her son, Andy Tubbs

American Women American Women in in World War 2

VJ Day Famous KissVJ Day in Times Square is a photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt that portrays an American sailor kissing a nurse on Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) in Time Square, New York on August 14, 1945

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Women in the USO

Six U.S.O. Girls wear bomber crew jackets belonging to the 90th Bomb Group, a.k.a. “Jolly Rogers,” under a B-24 bomber.

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USO history

Marlene Dietrich

Bob Hope

The national United Service Organization (USO) was formed on April 17, 1941. It was created to serve the religious, spiritual, and educational needs of the men and women in the armed forces. USO clubs were to be financed by the public through voluntary contributions.

The USO truly made history when it came to entertaining the troops. From 1941 to 1947, USO Camp Shows presented an amazing 428,521 performances. Over 7,000 entertainers, "brave soldiers in greasepaint" traveled overseas, from the biggest movie stars to unknown vaudevillians. By the end of the WW2, more than 1.5 million volunteers had worked on behalf of the USO.

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Andrews Sisters

The Andrews Sisters“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B”

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HomefrontThree million women served as Red Cross volunteers. Millions of women worked for the Civilian Defense as air-raid wardens, fire watchers messengers, drivers, auxiliary police.

Paula Prentiss, John WayneIN HARMS WAY (1965)

Women volunteers also devoted hours to scanning the sky with binoculars, looking out for enemy planes

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Concluding Thoughts from “Rosie”

Get your picture with “Rosie” after the presentation

Phew…that was a journey. American women in WW2 were an awesome bunch. There is so much more you can research. That internet thing has all the good stuff.

Time to hear from YOU. Would any of you like to share your story about a Rosie, WASP, Nurse, or a family member on the homefront during the war?

Thanks Andy, Kon and the LeCroy Center for their hospitality.

I has been delightful visiting with you!