World War II in American Scenario - Essay Example

?World War II in American Scenario With the onset of the World War II, most of the American men got enlisted in the war effort and as a result the work force in the American factories gradually got diminished. To fill up the gap in the factories and to produce the items needed for the war, American women power was maximally involved in both the armed forces and in the production line. Before the war, the American women primarily played the role of as housewives and mothers to the children. However, that changed after the initiation of the World War II, as the women folk were encouraged to join the industries and importantly even in the war efforts. This was pointed out by Quintile who states “The American Propaganda of 1941-1945 was aimed at persuading American Women to become involved in supporting the war effort, encouraging them to fill roles previously filled by men.” Thus various propaganda and continual appeals were issued from the American Government throughout the war to trigger the patriotic feeling among the women and to get their attention. Most of the propaganda aimed at the women during the World War II was three fold and that included the following. Firstly, they were done to fill the vacancies in the production area, which was caused by the departure of men from the workforce into the armed forces. Secondly, the other main aim of the propaganda includes involving the women folk in the armed forces to fill up the desk activities and other roles such as the medical practitioners, nurses, civilians, chaplains, etc. Lastly actively support the armed forces by joining the troops in combative environments. Thus the government mainly focused on coming up with various approaches to make the American women contribute to the nation in a variety of ways. In that direction, the armed forces launched crash recruiting programmes such as conducting rallies, advertising campaigns, and other community outreach programmes to invite the female youth and women in other age groups. The War department publicists also produced huge posters that portrayed women in uniforms so as to make them involved in the armed forces. They particularly used the movie, ‘the Rosie the Riveter’, which depicted the life story of a woman who worked in the plane factory during World War II, as a publicity campaign to enroll more women into the army. Even before the war, men were considered as the breadwinners who need to work outside the homes, while the women’s role was ‘contained’ within the confines of the house. The scene changed completely with the commencement of the Second World War. With respect to the increase in the demand of the military needs, the government decided to utilize the women folk in noncombatant and auxiliary military forces. As said above, women took over the traditional women’s work such as secretarial duties and other desk work inside the military operations. In 1942, US government “instituted the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps, later upgraded to the Women's Army Corps, which had full military status” and the female members of it, “known as WACs, worked in more than 200 non-combatant jobs stateside and in every theater of the war.” (“American Women in World War II.”). Then, women were efficiently used in support functions such as nurses, physicians, etc. The nurses from these groups sprang to the war front and they attended to the wounded soldiers. Also some of the nurses became Red Cross nurses and some served in the military nursing units. Moreover the cadet nurse crops recruited nursing students to work in military and other critical care facilities while they were in school. The cadet nurses and the medical practitioners joined the army to render critical nursing services to the wounded soldiers. They visited many military camps and attended to the needs of the soldiers apart from supplying with critical care medicines and other medical accessories to the camp. . Apart from non-combative roles, women also played active roles in the armed forces. Although there were initial oppositions regarding this involvement of women in the combative roles, due to the need of larger armed force to counter the threat of the Axis powers, women were recruited in large numbers. Lewis lists out the figures of women serving with the American military in World War II: “Army – 140000, Navy- 100000, Marines – 23000, Coast guard – 13000, Air force – 25000, Army and Navy Corps – 74000.” Thus the women auxiliary Army Corps had handful of women equipped with full military status. That is, they were able to and was also trained to operate the heavy military equipments as well as military related communication networks on the war front. Women were also recruited for the Marine Corps and coast guards, and were well trained to attack the enemies entering through the sea route. As part of the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASP), they played a vital role. “These women, each of whom had already obtained their pilot's license prior to service, became the first women to fly American military aircraft.” (“American Women in World War II.”). They assisted in ferrying the military cargoes to various military facilities as well as war front. Women with adequate flight experience were recruited as aviators in the war front. Women pilots from the civilian volunteer services were hired to work with the military aircrafts. Some of the historical studies reveal that among the 25,000 women involved in the air force, 1830 served performing more dangerous and crucial missions and 38 reported dead. (American women in WW II). From the above analysis, it is clear that women played a sizable role in the World War II, when compared to previous wars on global scale. American women stepped out of their houses to serve the country and made a positive impact in the History. Apart from driving ambulances, providing medical care, etc, women actively participated in combative roles by operating various military equipments and also flew fighter pilots. To cover up in a nut shell Women tirelessly gave their time, effort and soul with or without public recognition during the World War II in America. Works Cited Lewis, Jone Johnson. “Women and World War II: Women and the Military.” About.com Women’s History, n. d. Web. 5 May 2012. http://womenshistory.about.com/od/warwwii/a/military.htm “American Women in World War II.” History.com, n. d. Web. 5 May 2012. http://www.history.com/topics/american-women-in-world-war-ii Quintile, Laura. “Propaganda and the Women of WWII.” Yahoo voices, 12 July 2006. Web. 5 May 2012. http://voices.yahoo.com/propaganda-women-wwii-52293.html?cat=37 Read More