Courtesy of the Veterans Administration

SOME IMPORTANT DATES

IN THE HISTORY OF MILITARY WOMEN

JUNE 14, 1775 U.S. Army established

OCTOBER 13, 1775 U.S. Navy established

NOVEMBER 10, 1775 U.S. Marine Corps established

AUGUST 4, 1790 U.S. Coast Guard established

SEPTEMBER 18, 1947 U.S. Air Force established

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JANUARY 2, 1901 Army Nurse Corps established

MAY 13, 1908 Navy Nurse Corps established

NOVEMBER 11, 1918 Veterans Day (WWI Armistice signed)

MAY 15, 1942 Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) established

JULY 30, 1942 Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service

WAVES) established (by Public Law 689)

[LCDR Mildred McAfee assumed post as the

first Director on August 3.]

NOVEMBER 8, 1942 "Operation Torch" -- Army Nurses and WAACs

deployed to North Africa [60 Army Nurses

landed with assault troops in N. Africa

near town of Arzew. Often under sniper fire,

nurses of the 48th Surgical Hospital began

caring for invasion casualties. On Nov. 13,

1942, the ship carrying the first 5 WAAC

officers to the war was sunk. Rescued by a

British destroyer, they served on

Eisenhower's staff.]

NOVEMBER 23, 1942 Women's Reserve U.S. Coast Guard (SPARs)

established under LCDR Dorothy Stratton

["SPAR" from the Coast Guard motto Semper

Paratus "Always Ready"] [NOTE: SPARS were

stationed in all U.S. Coast Guard District

offices except Puerto Rico, and eventually

deployed to Hawaii and Alaska. Their

assignments were clerk, storekeeper,

parachute rigger, chaplain's assistant, air

control-tower operators, boatswains' mates,

coxswains, radiomen, ship's cook, vehicle

drivers and pharmacist's mates. A few SPARs

work on loran, then a secret radio signal

system.]

JANUARY 13, 1943 Marine Corps Women's Reserve established

JANUARY 27, 1943 The first WAAC unit overseas, the 149th,

landed in Algiers and provided clerical,

telephone and postal support. [Note:

First Hispanic WAAC, Carmen Contreras-Bozak,

served with the 149th WAAC HQ in Algiers.

FEBRUARY 13, 1943 Marine Corps Women's Reserve (WRs) established

[Maj. Ruth Cheney Streeter was first

Director of WRs]

JULY 1, 1943 Women's Army Corps (WACs) established

AUGUST 5, 1943 Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)

established [merged from Women's Auxiliary

Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) founded by Nancy

Love in September 1942 and Women's Flying

Training Detachment (WFTD) commanded by

Jacqueline Cochran] [NOTE: Over 1,070

served and 38 were killed in plane crashes.

WASPs did not receive veteran status until

1977.]

JANUARY 27, 1944 Army nurses wade ashore at Anzio, five days

following the invasion. Six Army nurses

died in early February in bombings.

JUNE 10, 1944 Army nurses land at Normandy, four days after

D-Day.

JULY 14, 1944 The first WACs arrive at Normandy, serving

as telephone operators, typists, clerks,

secretaries, and drivers. More than 8,000

WACs served in the ETO, including England,

Scotland, Wales, France, and Germany

SEPTEMBER 27, 1944 Public Law 44 signed permitting WAVES and

Women Marines to serve overseas.

[Army and Navy nurses were in the Pacific

Theater prior to Pearl Harbor--some taken

prisoner by the Japanese in the Philippines.

By war's end, military nurses were scattered

across the theater in hospitals, air

evacuation units, and on hospital ships.

Six Army nurses were killed when a Japanese

suicide plant his the USS Comfort off

Okinawa. Over 5,500 WACs deployed to the

SW Pacific Theater in places like Hollandia,

Oro Bay, New Guinea, Leyte and Manila. A

few SPARs served overseas in Alaska and

Hawaii. After P.L. 44 was signed, WAVES and

WRs were deployed to Hawaii.]

OCTOBER 19, 1944 Black women were admitted to the WAVES.

Lt(jg) Harriet Ida Pickens and Ens. Francis

Wills were the first black WAVES commissioned

FEBRUARY 3, 1945 Army Nurse POWs and Navy Nurse POWs released

in the Philippines

FEBRUARY 11, 1945 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

-- the only black WACs to serve overseas --

arrived in Europe and broke all previous

records in getting mail to the front lines

MARCH 1945 First Navy flight nurse, Ens. Jane Kendeigh,

USNR, reaches Iwo Jima.

APRIL 16, 1947 Women's Medical Specialist Corps established

JUNE 12, 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act enacted

JULY 1, 1949 Air Force Nurse Corps established

NOVEMBER 8, 1967 Women eligible for General and Admiral ranks

JUNE 11, 1970 Two women promoted to 1-star rank

JUNE 1, 1973 First woman promoted to 2-star rank

OCTOBER 20, 1978 Women's Army Corps (WAC) disestablished

NOVEMBER 6, 1986 Women In Military Service For America Memorial

authorized

NOVEMBER 11, 1993 Dedication of the Vietnam Women's Memorial,

Washington, D.C.

OCTOBER 18, 1997 Dedication of the Women In Military Service

For America, Arlington National Cemetery

JULY 17 (now in Sept) POW-MIA Recognition Day [let us never forget

the courage and sacrifice of our women

POWs-MIAs]

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Above information courtesy of WIMSA

Posted: 9 Nov 97

The Northwest Veterans Newsletter

http://northwestvets.com