The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990 Page: 74
598 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
strolling about-a warm introduction to that celebrated city. That
night, nestled into our moving bunks, my fellow soldiers and I con-
tinued on to the northwest where I spent thirteen months before my
next transfer.
By the war's end, we early women volunteers, at first restricted to
three areas of work and hobbled by prejudices, saw a century of evolu-
tion in the deployment of females. We eventually found entry into every
task the armed forces had to offer short of the battlefield. Women
worked on piers sending or receiving overseas troops. They labored
with postal battalions, and were employed in water, rail, and motor
vehicle maintenance units, as well as in salvage, photo laboratories,
mess, and supply depots. They were multigraph operators, tailors, and
projectionists.
Waacs (later called Wacs) served on land and sea as technicians, ad-
mitting staff, radio operators, and nurses' aides. Those in morale per-
sonnel organized news reports, consulted on veterans' benefits, and
supplied music and variety shows. Overseas they mapped campaign ac-
tivities, routed war supplies, and even drove them to the front when
necessary-and this is only a partial list.
Late in the war I was a costume designer and actress with a theatrical
troupe at a rehabilitation facility. My purpose was not only to entertain,
but to assist the mentally and physically wounded to regain their capa-
bilities by having them participate in show production either in front of
the footlights, backstage, or in the music pit.
As I recall the days of World War II and the periods I spent in the
states of Washington, Louisiana, Virginia, and New York, my warmest
memories remain those I accumulated in Nacogdoches, with an aware-
ness of that special aura surrounding a colorful Texas town and the
Teachers College, where everything, then in short wartime supply, was
shared with a great-hearted spirit that made the "little" seem unend-
ingly abundant. There I had the distinction of being a member of the
first permanent female army in the annals of the United States and also
enjoyed the privilege of spending a portion of my war career in the
glorious state of Texas.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 93, July 1989 - April, 1990, periodical, 1990; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101213/m1/100/?rotate=90: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.