The Greatest Generation Comes Home: The Veteran in American Society

Chapter 4 GI Jane Comes Home

CHAPTER฀4฀ GI฀Jane฀Comes฀Home I฀am฀uncomfortable฀in฀a฀group฀now฀because฀I’m฀easily฀bored฀ with฀discussions฀of฀babies,฀food฀prices฀and฀home-making฀problems .฀People฀seem฀to฀be฀living฀behind฀walls,฀with฀no฀interest฀ in฀national฀or฀international฀events฀.฀.฀.฀and฀they฀look฀at฀you฀ strangely฀if฀you฀discuss฀any฀current฀problem฀other฀than฀what฀ they฀are฀going฀to฀have฀for฀breakfast฀the฀next฀morning. —Female฀veteran฀surveyed฀ for฀a฀master’s฀thesis฀on฀readjustment,฀1947 It฀was฀their฀war,฀too.฀In฀1940,฀women฀had฀watched฀as฀hundreds฀of฀ thousands฀of฀their฀fathers,฀husbands,฀sons,฀and฀brothers฀entered฀ military฀service,฀called฀to฀duty฀by฀peacetime฀conscription.฀After฀Pearl฀ Harbor,฀they฀sat฀on฀the฀sidelines฀again฀as฀millions฀more฀marched฀off฀ to฀war.฀At฀best,฀women฀could฀follow฀their฀progress฀through฀letters฀ hastily฀written฀in฀training฀camps฀or฀dispatched฀overseas฀via฀V-mail.฀ Otherwise,฀in฀the฀early฀days฀of฀the฀war,฀their฀role฀was฀limited฀to฀scrap฀ drives,฀civil-defense฀drills,฀volunteer฀work,฀and฀the฀growing฀number฀of฀ jobs฀appearing฀in฀the฀defense฀industry.฀In฀a฀larger฀sense,฀a฀new฀national฀ consensus฀appeared฀that฀made฀women฀responsible฀for฀preserving฀the฀ home฀front฀that฀the฀soldier฀was฀fighting฀to฀protect.1 ฀ It฀was฀not฀enough.฀Patriotism฀was฀not฀the฀province฀of฀one฀gender฀any฀ more฀than฀military฀service฀to฀the฀country.฀In฀a฀very฀real฀way,฀World฀War฀ II฀was฀a฀battle฀for฀American฀women฀to฀achieve฀direct฀participation฀in฀ the฀conflict.฀After฀the฀war฀was฀finished,฀the฀postwar฀period฀developed฀ into฀a฀story฀of฀women฀veterans฀gaining฀the฀acknowledgment฀that฀was฀ also฀their฀just฀due. ฀ To฀accomplish฀both฀entry฀into฀the฀war฀and฀recognition฀afterward,฀ American฀women฀had฀to฀overcome฀a฀complex฀series฀of฀social฀and฀ GI฀Jane฀Comes฀Home฀ ฀ 91 legal฀obstacles฀to฀service.฀One฀of฀the฀first฀and฀most฀easily฀negotiated฀ barriers฀addressed฀a฀woman’s฀capacity฀for฀patriotism฀and฀duty.฀In฀this฀ one฀respect,฀the฀heavy฀weight฀of฀the฀historical฀record฀and฀the฀contemporary ฀conventional฀wisdom฀illustrated฀that฀the฀love฀of฀America฀could฀ not฀be฀confined฀to฀men.฀Common฀sense฀dictated฀that฀women฀could฀ participate฀in฀productive฀ways.฀Few฀could฀argue฀against฀the฀overall฀ benefit฀of฀unleashing฀millions฀of฀motivated฀citizens฀against฀the฀common ฀enemy.฀Moreover,฀as฀the฀discussion฀of฀women’s฀military฀service฀ moved฀forward,฀federal฀agencies฀concerned฀with฀civilian฀policy฀were฀ already฀making฀deliberate฀efforts฀to฀integrate฀females฀into฀the฀war฀ effort.฀The฀Department฀of฀Labor,฀faced฀with฀massive฀labor฀shortages฀ as฀conscription฀drained฀millions฀from฀manufacturing฀and฀industry,฀ initiated฀a฀deliberate฀campaign฀to฀encourage฀women฀to฀move฀from฀the฀ home฀into฀the฀factory,฀all฀the฀while฀stressing฀their฀historical฀contributions ฀to฀the฀preservation฀and฀progress฀of฀the฀nation.฀The฀subsequent฀ demonstrations฀of฀women’s฀adaptability฀and฀utility฀to฀the฀war฀industry฀ alleviated฀a฀great฀many฀concerns฀regarding฀their฀transition฀into฀uniform .2 ฀ A฀more฀difficult฀debate฀centered฀on฀the฀exact฀nature฀of฀their฀military฀ service฀once฀women฀joined฀the฀war฀effort.฀Initially,฀both฀the฀public฀and฀ American฀lawmakers฀treated฀the฀idea฀as฀a฀concession฀to฀expedience.฀ In฀this฀light,฀it฀was฀assumed฀that฀once฀the฀war฀was฀won,฀“normalcy”฀ would฀again฀dictate฀the฀status฀quo,฀just฀as฀it฀had฀in฀past฀conflicts. ฀ However,฀this฀expectation฀undercut฀the฀legitimacy฀of฀women’s฀ service฀at฀its฀starting฀point.฀By฀definition,฀participation฀in฀the฀military฀ required฀an฀enormous฀sacrifice฀of฀personal฀freedom฀to฀the฀priorities฀ of฀the฀particular฀branch฀of฀service฀and฀the฀nation฀as฀a฀whole.฀Women฀ in฀uniform฀accepted฀the฀regimentation฀of฀their฀lives฀from฀first฀call฀ in฀the฀barracks,฀through฀each฀day฀of฀training,฀to฀taps.฀Defining฀these฀ women฀as฀“auxiliaries”฀and฀consigning฀their฀work฀to฀the฀periphery฀of฀ the฀war฀itself,฀almost฀as฀an฀afterthought,฀is฀an฀insult฀to฀their฀sacrifices฀ and฀the฀meaning฀of฀American฀citizenship. ฀ Contemporary฀perceptions฀regarding฀the฀temporary฀nature฀of฀ military฀service฀also฀prolonged฀and฀encouraged฀the฀social฀stigma฀ attached฀to฀a฀woman’s฀involvement฀in฀the฀military.฀In฀1946,฀a฀writer฀ noted฀that฀families฀who฀might฀give฀their฀sons฀and฀husbands฀to฀the฀war฀ found฀it฀“disgraceful฀that฀a฀daughter฀should฀be฀held฀in฀the฀Service฀or฀ even฀evince฀a฀desire฀to฀enlist.”3 ฀A฀wartime฀questionnaire฀reported฀that฀ 41฀percent฀of฀those฀women฀who฀volunteered฀did฀so฀despite฀resistance฀ 92฀ CHAPTER฀4 from฀relatives.฀Many฀Americans฀treated฀the฀desire฀for฀military฀service฀ as฀the฀product฀of฀a฀character฀flaw.฀An฀army฀nurse฀reflected...