| It's
Our War Too: New Objects from Women in WWII |
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On
Display: March, 2004 -April, 2004.
Location: 1st Floor, Louisiana Memorial
Pavilion
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Since
Grand Opening on June 6, 2000, the National
World War II Museum has received hundreds
of artifact donations, including those that
document the contributions of America’s
women to the war effort. In honor of Women’s
History Month, The National World War II
Museum proudly debuts some of the recent
artifact donations from American women who
served their country during World War II.
When America entered
World War II in December 1941, there were
about 1,410 women in the armed forces as
either Army or Navy nurses. By the end of
the war, there were over
350,000 military women serving in all theaters
of World War II. The Army and Navy Nurse
Corps expanded dramatically, plus each branch
of the U.S. military created a women’s
reserve component. Some Army and Navy nurses
worked under enemy fire and were killed
in action or captured as prisoners of war.
The newly created women’s reserve
units produced legions
of female pilots, machinists, weapon testers
and musicians, just to name a few.
In civilian
life, the number of women in the workforce
increased from approximately 230,000 to
1.7 million. American women found work in
factories, particularly in the defense industry
with companies like Higgins Industries of
New Orleans, Delta Shipyards, Ford Motor
and others. Women not only worked in clerical
positions but in jobs usually held by men
such as riveting, welding, and operating
cranes.
Many more
hundreds of thousands of women volunteered
with armed forces support organizations
such as the American Red Cross, Civil Defense,
and the United Service Organization (USO).
They harvested crops, knitted socks and
vests, and protected the Home Front as air
raid wardens.
The National
World War II Museum celebrates the contributions
of these women to the American war effort
during March, Women’s History Month.
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