H. Res. 41

In the House of Representatives, U.S.,

November 10, 1999.

Whereas during World War II women in the United States

were recruited into the Armed Forces to perform military

assignments so that men could be freed for combat duties;

Whereas, despite social stigmas and public opinion averse to

women in uniform, women applied for military service in

such numbers that enrollment ceilings were reached within the first several years;

Whereas during World War II women served in the Army in

the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the

Women’s Army Corps (WAC);

Whereas these women served the Army by performing a variety of duties traditionally performed by men;

Whereas in 1943 the Army removed the auxiliary status of

the WAAC units, in unspoken recognition of the value of

their services;

Whereas almost one-half of World War II WACs served in

the Army Air Forces as officers and enlisted personnel,

with duties including such flying jobs as radio operator,

photographer, and flight clerk;

Whereas 7,315 of these Army Air Forces WACs were serving

overseas in all theaters of war in January 1945;
2

•HRES 41 EH

Whereas General Eisenhower stated, ‘‘During the time I have

had WACs under my command they have met every test

and task assigned to them; their contributions in efficiency, skill, spirit, and determination are immeasurable’’;

Whereas at the end of the war 657 women were honored for

their service in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and

the Women’s Army Corps, receiving medals and citations

including the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of

Merit, the Air Medal, the Soldiers’ Medal for heroic action, the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Star;

Whereas in 1946 the Army requested that Congress establish

the Women’s Army Corp as a permanent part of the

Army, perhaps the single greatest indication of the value

of women in the Army to the war effort;

Whereas during World War II women served with the Army

Air Forces in the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron

(WAFS), the Women’s Flying Training Detachment

(WFTD), and the Women Air Force Service Pilots

(WASPs);

Whereas women serving with the Army Air Forces ferried

planes from factories to airfields, performed test flights

of repaired aircraft, towed targets used in live gunnery

practice by male pilots, and performed a variety of other

duties traditionally performed by men;

Whereas women pilots flew more than 70 types of military

aircraft, from open-cockpit primary trainers to P–51

Mustangs, B–26 Marauders, and B–29 Superfortresses;

Whereas from September 10, 1942, to December 20, 1944,

1,074 WASPs flew an aggregate 60,000,000 miles in

wartime service;
3

•HRES 41 EH

Whereas, although WASPs were promised military classification, they were classified as civilians and the 38 WASPs

who died in the line of duty were buried without military

honors;

Whereas WASPs did not receive official status as military

veterans until March 1979, when WASP units were formally recognized as components of the Air Force;

Whereas during World War II women in the Navy served in

the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service

(WAVES);

Whereas approximately 90,000 WAVES served the Navy in

a variety of capacities and in such numbers that, according to a Navy estimate, enough men were freed for combat duty to crew the ships of four major task forces, each

including a battleship, two large aircraft carriers, two

heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and 15 destroyers;

Whereas WAVES who served in naval aviation taught instrument flying, aircraft recognition, celestial navigation, aircraft gunnery, radio, radar, air combat information, and

air fighter administration, but were not allowed to be pilots;

Whereas, at the end of the war, Secretary of the Navy James

Forrestal stated that members of the WAVES ‘‘have exceeded performance of men in certain types of work, and

the Navy Department considers it to be very desirable

that these important services rendered by women during

the war should likewise be available in postwar years

ahead’’;

Whereas during World War II women served in the Marine

Corps in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve;
4

•HRES 41 EH

Whereas more than 23,000 women served at shore establishments of the Marine Corps, and by the end of the war,

85 percent of the enlisted personnel assigned to Headquarters, Marine Corps were women;

Whereas during the war women were assigned to over 200

different specialties in the Marine Corps, and by performing these duties freed men for active duty to fight;

Whereas during World War II women served in the Coast

Guard in the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve (SPARs);

Whereas more than 10,000 women volunteered for service

with the Coast Guard during the period from 1942

through 1946, and when the Coast Guard was at the

peak of its strength during the war, one out of every 16

members of the Coast Guard was a SPAR;

Whereas the SPARs who attended the Coast Guard Academy

were the first women in the United States to attend a

military academy, and by filling shore jobs for the Coast

Guard SPARs freed men to serve elsewhere;

Whereas by the end of World War II more than 400,000

women had served the United States in military capacities;

Whereas these women, despite their merit and the recognized

value and importance of their contributions to the war effort, were not given status equal to their male counterparts and struggled for years to receive the appreciation

of the Congress and the people of the United States;

Whereas these women helped to catalyze the social, demographic, and economic evolutions that occurred in the

1960’s and 1970’s and continue to this day; and
5

•HRES 41 EH

Whereas these pioneering women are owed a great debt of

gratitude for their service to the United States: Now,

therefore, be it

Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring American

Military Women for Their Service in World War II Resolution’’.

SEC. 2. COMMENDATION AND RECOGNITION OF WOMEN WHO

SERVED THE UNITED STATES IN MILITARY CAPACITIES DURING WORLD WAR II.

The House of Representatives—

(1) honors the women who served the United States

in military capacities during World War II;

(2) commends these women who, through a sense of

duty and willingness to defy stereotypes and social pressures, performed military assignments to aid the war effort, with the result that men were freed for combat duties; and

(3) recognizes that these women, by serving with

diligence and merit, not only opened up opportunities for

women that had previously been reserved for men, but
6

•HRES 41 EH

also contributed vitally to the victory of the United

States and the Allies in World War II.

Attest:

Clerk.