WAAC+and+General+George+Marshall

NAME: Agatha Hartmen AGE: 32 HOMETWON: Bobo, Alabama SCHOOL ATTEMDED: Bobo High BIRTHDAY: November 14, 1923 LISTED AS: Married with 6 CHILDREN!!! INCOME: $1,100 yearly (Staff Sergent) Occupation: Women's Army Corps
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The Women's Army Corps, or the WAAC, was a U.S. army unit created during World War II to enable women to serve in noncombat positions (563). Since there were many duties that could not be performed by men during the war women, like me, were placed in the corps in order to fill these postitions of duty. In 1914 General George Marshall pushed of a bill for the WAAC (563). General George Marshall supervised the U.S. Army during the war and was the chief military advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As Secretary of State he gave his name to the Marshall Plan, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.The Marshall Plan was the idea of extending billions of American dollars for European economic recovery (Pogue 1). The wartime demands rapidly increased after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As the war manpower crisis increased, the importance of women's potential contributions to the war effort became apparent. The movement to create the Women's Army Corps gained support from influential women and women's organizations, which showed that women had the right to exercise all the responsibilities of citizenship, including military service ("Women in the Military" 2). Applicants had to be U.S. citizens between the ages of 21 and 45 with no dependents, be at least five feet tall, and weigh 100 pounds or more. Over 35,000 women from all over the country applied for less than 1,000 anticipated positions (Bellafaire 2). However, Black applicants were placed in seperate work places ("Women in the Military" 3). There were many standards that one had to met in order to join the WAC. One had to be a U.S. citizen, excellent character, good health, average height or weight, married or single, no children under the age of 14, and had to have completed at least 2 years of high school ("WAC History" 1). When I first started my training, the duration of the basic military training was 4 weeks.The basic training consisted of 23 courses taking up to 176 hours; it was long and hard work ("WAC History" 2). At the end of the basic training every WAC had to pass aptitude tests to determine the type of work the WAC would be best fitted for. The women could then be assigned to start the recommended duty work at an Army post. In June 1943 approximately 60,000 women belonged to the WAC ("WAC History" 2). The women, however, were not a regular Army, yet they performed Army jobs. They went overseas, but did not have the same benefits as members of the Army did if injured. The WAC volunteers experienced unequal pay, had no entitlements for dependents, and lacked military rank ("Women in the Military" 4). This newly presented problem outlined a serious discrepancy between sexes. The men felt that they would lose their title as the masculine one if women joined the army, yet the women felt they were not given enough superiority in they army and wanted equal pay (Bellafaire 2).On the other hand, WAC women received free food and lodging, free supply of clothing and equipment as well as free medical and dental services. Womens wages ranged from $600 to$1,600 per year, while the men's wages ranged from $1,800 - $4,000 per year ("WAC History" 3). This is a major difference that was never really resolved and was truley unfair. However, us women did try to have fun every once in a while! As a tradition, we started to create songs about our work and the war to help pass the time. We came up with songs that described our times as WACs. Songs like "The WAC Is A Soldier Too" and "The US Army WAC" are still very important memories from the times of Women's Army corps ("WAC History 4).



__Works Cited__

Bellafaire, Judith A. "The Women's Army Corps. __A Commemoration of WWII Service__.17 Feb. 2007. 23 Oct. 2007. 

Danzer, Gerald A. et al. __The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century. Evanston,__ IL: McDougal Littel, 2003.

Pogue, Forrest C. "General C. Marshall." __World War II Commemoration.__ 23 Oct. 2007. http://grolier.com/wwii/wwii_marshall.html.

"WAC History." WWII Women's Service Organizations. 24 Sep. 2007. 23 Oct. 2007. http://www.blitzkreigbaby.de/homepage.htm

'Women in the Military." The Women Army Corps History. 2004. 23 Oct. 2007. http://www.mscd.edu/~history/camphale/wim_001.html.

__Picture Citations__

www.franklinkansas.com

forums.military.com

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