The Detroit tribune. (Detroit, Mich.) 1935-1966, 1942-11-14
BY VICTORIA MCCALL

Any preconceived notions one
may have had about the WAACs
being a glorifed glamour DEPART
ment OF the Army or Just the
sntithesis-the Choir women. was
dispelled Sunday when one met
and talked with Lieutenant Har-
riet West. who was here to mi
tiate the recruiting OF Negro
women at the WAAC booth at the
clubhouse OF the Detroit Asso-
citation OF Women's clubs.
Lieutenant West. who is now a
member OF WAAC-Director Hob
by's staff at Washington. makes
an excellent goodwill ambassador
for the Army and helps TO break
down some OF the feeling Negro
women have harbored against the
WAAC as an organization. Per-
sonally. she is very charming
and attractive woman. who looks
we'll in her uniform OF olive
drab. which is tho feminine coun-
terpart OF the Armys regulation
uniform for commissioned Of
ficers.
She. and all other WAACs are
graduated as second lieuienants
and wear single gold bar 10
denote their rank Their suisse
quent promotion Is based upon
merit The official insignia OF the
WAAC's. which is worn on each
laDel. Is the gold head Of Pallas
Athena. the Greek goddess Of
peace. strength and war To our
surprise. We discovered that mako
un and nail polish. which the
Lieutenant used effectively. are
not banned by the Army.
We found Lieutenant Vests
views on the Army and on the
WAAC's and the Negro woman
very interesting Like any good
Army personality. she is imbued
with the spirit OF loyalty 10 her
country first. In so performing
her duty 20 country. she feels
that directly or indirectly her
race is benefited. She thinks thai
the Negroes fist JOB is TO com.
mand respect. by proving to 9th.
ers his ability.
Succeeding as a WAC is the
, duty Of Negro women. and by Sc
doing. they show their ability and
drive n wedge into set-up which
NAV be n future benefit TO thu
whole race I'll Negroes prob
lem IS primarily economic wher
he has earned an equal onnor
trnitv 10 learn. to earn and y
spend other changes will come
said the Lieutenant
To our specific questions abou
he training period as Des Moines
Lieutenant West gave some verl
satisfying answers. being careful
10 express her own opinions anC
not to ;ct as a spokesman foi
the group Tho trained her Sh'
felt that the women who 20 u
Des Molnes 90 with the desire
- serve. rather than with thu
search for adventure. which hal
been accredited to them. Whei
asked about racial feeling at Nh
camp. she said thai both white
and colored ge' along well AND
, fraterni7ed during their leisure
| time. There was no discrimina
tion. as all were trained together
There was segregation. however
in that the Negro women were
I organized into one platoon and
Ihad segregated living quarters
She feels that undue stress was
placed on this point as the var.
ious eroups would ultimately
have sought one another's owl
company.
Lieutenant West said she hat
never nuite understood the al
legged friction which arose over
the swimming pool At Des
Moincs. In explanation. she statef
thpt the pooI was small and could
only accommodate one platoon al
time. and therefore each erour
had 10 be assigned a definite
time However not all members
o. the nlaioors chose 10 swim
and later on there was great
deal OF mivine during the swim.
ming periods.
We were anxious to hear Lieu.
tenant Vests views on the
clashes between southern white
civilians and Negro soldiers and
whether she thought Negro
WAACs would be involved In
similar circumstances and Just
how far the Government would
stand behind them Her answer
was that where WAAC protec-
tion ended. the Army guaranteed
adequate protection for its women
agents. Here. she emphasized the
necessity OF self-assurance. OF which
che hao y,,urbs fho Willingness n