Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II

In "Valiant Women," Lena Andrews pays tribute to the more than three hundred and fifty thousand female patriots who devoted their energy and skills to America's war effort during the 1940s. In this enlightening and inspiring work of non-fiction, the author describes the scope of a massive campaign that sent millions of men to fight in North Africa, Europe, and the Pacific. It soon became clear that the soldiers on the front lines would not be able to achieve their goals without considerable support. Who would work in manufacturing plants, nurse the wounded, complete administrative tasks, and ferry supplies to their destinations? Recruiters sought out women to fill the gaps.

Andrews interviewed survivors of World War II who are in their show more late nineties or over one hundred. In addition, she studied archival materials, read memoirs, and spoke to relatives of women who helped make America's victory over the Axis powers possible. Who were these servicewomen? They hailed from a variety of educational, racial, and economic backgrounds, and were trained in a wide array of fields, including communications, mapmaking, mechanics, aviation, codebreaking, translation, and intelligence gathering.

Andrews' research is impeccable. She provides informative historical context, and includes black and white photographs, a list of sources, endnotes, and a thorough index. Furthermore, Andrews humanizes her subjects, and points out that a number of servicewomen had to cope with racism, sexism, and other forms of harassment. Some spent years in captivity, and tragically, hundreds lost their lives.

In this well-written and eye-opening book, we get to know key individuals who oversaw and participated in various military branches, such as the WACS (Women’s Army Corps), WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy), WAFS (Women’s Auxiliary Flying Squadron), and WASPS (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots). Female recruits usually lived in spartan quarters, did not always receive the recognition and benefits that they deserved, and after hostilities ceased, went quietly back to civilian life. Unsurprisingly, female veterans continued to make significant contributions to their communities in the decades that followed the Second World War. show less

This a very readable history of how women eventually were accepted into the American armed forces of WW II. As more men were needed for combat, against strong opposition, US military leaders introduced women into the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Army Air Force force to do clerical duties but expanded the duties assigned as women showed they could out perform men in many activities including flying aircraft. The integration of Black women into the program faced strong racism especially in the Southern states but overseas as well. The delivery of mail to the troops had backed up when sorted by men but when Black women took over the duty, they sorted and delivered the mail in record time to the pleasure of the troops on the battle show more field.

This program led to barriers faced by women to start to fall much earlier than The Feminine Mystique. It was difficult to keep women in the kitchen when they had experienced the freedom of successfully assisting winning the War. show less