IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 449 
Honoring women in the United States for their service in World War II 
and recognizing the role of Representative Edith Nourse Rogers in estab-
lishing the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s Army 
Corps. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 28, 2021 
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts (for herself, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Ms. 
HOULAHAN, Mrs. WAGNER, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. BACON, Mrs. LURIA, Ms. 
CHENEY, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. SPEIER, and Mrs. MIL-
LER-MEEKS) 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 Massachu-
setts introduced legislation to create the Women’s Army 
Auxiliary Corps (referred to in this preamble as the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:42 May 29, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR449.IH
HR449
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS
•HRES 449 IH 
Medal for heroic action, the Purple Heart, and the 
Bronze Star; 
Whereas, in 1946, the Army requested that Congress estab-
lish 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 classifica-
tion, they were classified as civilians, and the 38 WASPs 
who died in the line of duty were regrettably buried with-
out military honors; 
Whereas WASPs did not receive official status as military 
veterans until March 1979, when WASP units were for-
mally recognized as components of the Air Force; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:42 May 29, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR449.IH
HR449
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS
•HRES 449 IH 
Whereas, during the War, women in the Navy served in the 
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (re-
ferred to in this preamble as ‘‘WAVES’’); 
Whereas, approximately 90,000 WAVES served the Navy in 
a variety of capacities and in such numbers that, accord-
ing 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 instru-
ment flying, aircraft recognition, celestial navigation, air-
craft gunnery, radio, radar, air combat information, and 
air fighter administration, but were not allowed to be pi-
lots; 
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 establish-
ments of the Marine Corps, and by the end of the War, 
85 percent of the enlisted personnel assigned to Head-
quarters Marine Corps were women; 
Whereas, during the War, women were assigned to over 200 
different specialties in the Marine Corps and, by per-
forming those duties, freed other Marines for active duty 
to fight; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:42 May 29, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR449.IH
HR449
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS
•HRES 449 IH 
Whereas, during the War, women served in the Coast Guard 
Women’s Reserve (referred to in this preamble as 
‘‘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, 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 coun-
terparts; 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, demo-
graphic, 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) honors the women who served the United 
States in military capacities during World War II; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:42 May 29, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR449.IH
HR449
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS
•HRES 449 IH 
(2) commends those women who, through a 
sense of duty and willingness to defy stereotypes and 
social pressures, performed military assignments to 
aid the war effort, allowing for more combat capac-
ity; 
(3) recognizes that those women, by serving 
with diligence and merit, not only opened up oppor-
tunities for women that had previously been reserved 
for men, but also contributed vitally to the victory 
of the United States and the Allies in World War II; 
and 
(4) honors the contributions of Congresswoman 
Edith Nourse Rogers and her fellow Members of 
Congress who supported the establishment of the 
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s 
Army Corps. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
02:42 May 29, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HR449.IH
HR449
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS