"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President is hereby authorized to establish and organize in such units as he may from time to time determine to be necessary a Women's Army Auxiliary Corps for noncombatant service with the Army of the United States for the purpose of making available to the national defense when needed the knowledge, skill, and special training of the women of this Nation."
~H.R. 6293, 1941
WOmen's Army Corps
In 1940 men started to be drafted in to the military. Women who were supposed to stay home were thinking, "Why not us?" It wasn't until May 1941 when their "spokeswoman," Representative Edith Nourse Rogers, introduced a bill that called for an all-volunteer women's corps in the Army. Initially, Congress joked that women could not be in the army, but then realized that they needed the extra troops to send overseas to Japan and Germany. By May of 1942, the House and the Senate approved a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). In 1943 the WAAC was officially changed to the WAC, Women's Army Corps. By 1945 over 100,000 women had joined the WAC. (WAAC/WAC).
"You have written a fine page in the history of women at war, in this war of survival. There are other pages to write before we can say as women, 'Mission accomplished.' " ~Colonel Hobby
("Battleground")
"A Bill"
"To establish a Women's Auxiliary Army Corps for service with the Army of the United States"
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"WAAC Boomtown"
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"House Advances WAAC"
"Measure Making Corps Part of Army Goes to President"
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