George Marshall, the chief of staff of the army, pushed for the creation of the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) because of the shortage of men during World War II. Even though many congressmen did not approve of the bill, the army was desperately in need of women's assistance. The Bill became a law on May 15, 1942. Women worked in non-combat positions. They were nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, and pilots. George Marshall once stated that many of the women did a better job in these positions than the men had. About 350,000 women served in the auxiliary during the war. The women received no medical coverage, legal protection, or disability benefits that were available for the male military veterans. In July 1943 the army decided to drop the auxiliary status granting the women full US army benefits, and changing the name to Women's Army Corp (WAC). The WAC remained a separate unit until the male and female units were integrated in 1978.
by Jennah and Katie
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Wow, this was such a great step in the women's rights movement. Finally women had similar jobs to men and were in the workforce.
ReplyDeleteIts really great that during that time women could prove that they could do any job just as well as men can.
ReplyDeleteit was great that they let women do jobs in the war because not only did it fuel the military but it proved that woman could do just as much as men.
ReplyDeletelove bayley
I think women should have been paid better for their work. They were just as ready to sacrifice their lives for the United States as the men.
ReplyDeleteAt least because of the war...women were given more job opportunities that helped their struggle for equality.
ReplyDeletethis is quite legit guys. nicely done. TJ Represent! :)
Nice summary!
ReplyDeleteIts great how women had more oppurtunities but seems unfair how they didn't get the benefits, like medical coverage
aha tj represent...i would type t squared but i don't know how to get the superscript...
ReplyDeleteanyways...yeah go women woohoo. it sucks how lots of them lost their jobs when all the male humans came back.
Interesting how the women sometimes did a better job. Good job writing this
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering why they army refused to give non-combat positions to women? Did they think they would do a bad job or be scared? There is evidence of female soldiers from Russia during WWI that performed extremely well.
ReplyDeleteThis was a significant step made by women towards winning themselves equal rights as men.
ReplyDelete