Existing comment:
Uniform in Uniform
Even before the United States entered World War I in 1917, tens of thousands of American women donned the uniforms of private social service and religious organizations. As volunteers they served in countless ways, from supporting civilian relief efforts in war-torn Europe to running social centers for servicemen, stateside and abroad.
Thousands more women put on military uniforms. Over 20,000 volunteered for the U.S. Army and Navy Nurse Corps. Nearly 13,000 joined the ranks of the Navy and Marines for the first time -- taking over office jobs that, per the popular saying, "freed a man to fight." And 450 trained as telephone operators in the Army Signal Corps.
At the time, women in the United States were fighting for the right to vote. For many of those who wore a uniform during the war -- whether civilian or military -- it was a visible sign of their service to the nation. It was also a statement that their service justified their claim to full citizenship. |