Memorial Day: American Women

On this Memorial Day, I thought maybe I'd take a minute to remember the many women who've also served in and in conjunction with the US Armed Forces.

I'm not clear on how women are currently deployed in the US Military, but in our recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there can be no question that those anywhere in the theater are at risk.  Nor can you bypass the sacrifice many have made just to serve.

Its hard to ignore the contributions of women in World War II, be it the WACS, the WAVES, the women who took jobs in factories building machinery or the women who carefully managed a country under rationing and who planted victory gardens.

Korea and Vietnam saw women serving in an increased capacity as medical staff.


Perhaps because of the necessity for everyone to wear a lot of hats in the first two or three hundred years of first European settlement and then reshaping of the continent, women have always played a part.  You don't need to just look to Betsy Ross's contribution in The Revolutionary War.  I'm not sure if they're still teaching about Molly Pitcher in history classes, but they should be.

moxie

Of course women played a significant role during the American Civil War, but it wouldn't be until World War I that women would be admitted to the military with ranks, almost entirely as nurses and therapists.  While Rosie the Riveter may be what many of us think of as the quintessential pivot point for women, WWI saw women working in munitions factories and in many other roles usually reserved for men, including during wartime.  Women would not be given the right to vote until June 4 of 1919, and the Treaty of Versailles would be signed on the 28th.

Oh... for the Navy.  Well played, Navy.  Well played.

Clearly I'm no military history expert, but on this day when we'll see a lot of images of the many men who gave everything, there were women pushing the boundaries of expectation and serving where they could.