III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 249 

Honoring women in the United States for their service in World War II 

and recognizing the role of Representative Edith Nourse Rogers in establishing the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s Army 

Corps. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 27, 2021 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Mr. MORAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. COTTON, Ms. 

ERNST, and Ms. HIRONO) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring women in the United States for their service in 

World War II and recognizing the role of Representative 

Edith Nourse Rogers in establishing the Women’s Army 

Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s Army Corps. 

Whereas during World War II (referred to in this preamble 

as the ‘‘War’’), despite social stigmas against women 

serving in uniform, women in the United States served in 

the Armed Forces in vast numbers; 

Whereas Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts introduced legislation to create the Women’s Army 

Auxiliary Corps (referred to in this preamble as the 

‘‘WAAC’’) in May 1941, which was signed into law by 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 15, 1942; 


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•SRES 249 IS 

Whereas the first director of the WAAC, Oveta Culp Hobby, 

was sworn in on May 16, 1942, and shortly thereafter 

began the process of recruiting women to join the WAAC, 

which garnered over 35,000 applications for an anticipated 1,000 available positions; 

Whereas the first recruits for the newly created WAAC arrived at the first training center on July 20, 1942, with 

125 enlisted women and 440 officer candidates, 40 of 

whom were Black; 

Whereas, during the War, women serving in the Army in the 

WAAC and the Women’s Army Corps (referred to in this 

preamble as the ‘‘WAC’’) performed duties traditionally 

performed by men; 

Whereas, in unspoken recognition of the value of their services, the Army removed the auxiliary status of the WAAC 

units in 1943, which gave women all of the rank, privileges, and benefits of male soldiers; 

Whereas almost 1⁄2 of the members of the WAC during the 

War served in the Army Air Forces as officers and enlisted personnel, with duties including radio operator, 

photographer, and flight clerk; 

Whereas 7,315 of those members of the Army Air Forces 

WAC were serving overseas in all theaters of the War in 

January 1945; 

Whereas, at the end of the War, 657 women were honored 

for their service in the WAAC and the WAC, 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; 


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Whereas, in 1946, the Army requested that Congress establish the WAC as a permanent part of the Army, perhaps 

the single greatest indication of the value of women in 

the Army to the effort of the United States in the War; 

Whereas, during the War, women served with the Army Air 

Forces in the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, the 

Women’s Flying Training Detachment, and the Women 

Air Force Service Pilots (referred to in this preamble as 

‘‘WASPs’’); 

Whereas women serving with the Army Air Forces— 

(1) ferried planes from factories to airfields; 

(2) performed test flights of repaired aircraft towed 

targets used in live gunnery practice; and 

(3) 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; 

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

who died in the line of duty were regrettably 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 the War, women in the Navy served in the 

Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘WAVES’’); 


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Whereas, approximately 90,000 WAVES served the Navy in 

a variety of capacities and in such numbers that, according to a Navy estimate, enough sailors were freed for 

combat duty to crew the ships of 4 major task forces, 

each including a battleship, 2 large aircraft carriers, 2 

heavy cruisers, 4 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 the War, women served in the Marine Corps 

Women’s Reserve; 

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 those duties, freed other Marines for active duty 

to fight; 

Whereas, during the War, women served in the Coast Guard 

Women’s Reserve (referred to in this preamble as 

‘‘SPARs’’); 


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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, 1 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; 

Whereas, by the end of the War, more than 400,000 women 

had served the United States in military capacities; 

Whereas those women who served, despite their merit and the 

recognized value and importance of their contributions to 

the effort of the United States during the War— 

(1) were not given status equal to their male counterparts; and 

(2) struggled for years to receive the appreciation of 

Congress and the people of the United States; 

Whereas those women helped to catalyze the social, demographic, and economic evolutions that occurred after the 

War and that continue to this day; and 

Whereas those pioneering women are owed a great debt of 

gratitude for their service to the United States: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors the women who served the United 

3 States in military capacities during World War II; 

4 (2) commends those women who, through a 

5 sense of duty and willingness to defy stereotypes and 

6 social pressures, performed military assignments to 


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1 aid the war effort, allowing for more combat capac2 ity; 

3 (3) recognizes that those women, by serving 

4 with diligence and merit, not only opened up oppor5 tunities for women that had previously been reserved 

6 for men, but also contributed vitally to the victory 

7 of the United States and the Allies in World War II; 

8 and 

9 (4) honors the contributions of Congresswoman 

10 Edith Nourse Rogers and her fellow Members of 

11 Congress who supported the establishment of the 

12 Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s 

13 Army Corps. 

Æ 


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