During WWII, over 6 million women took wartime jobs in factories or filling in for men on farms, 3 million women volunteered with the Red Cross, and over 200,000 women served the military. In the days after December 7th, 1941, "Remember Pearl Harbor" became a battle cry for all of America as it entered World War II. It created fear on two coasts, with Germany looming on one doorstep, and Japan looming on the other. By the summer of 1942, men disappeared almost completely from the work place, having been drafted or enlisted into the US military. Rosie the Riveter quickly stepped into take his place.
With men being shipped overseas by the thousand, women were needed to step in to fill factory jobs, as well as to beef up hospitals, and even lend a hand to the military.
Women volunteer organizations such as the USO sprung up to lend a bit of home to soldiers as they traveled from base to base and less formal groups of women volunteered to perform various functions such as man draft boards and host welcoming parties in small towns across America. But soon, it was obvious that with casualties mounting in both Europe and the pacific, women would be needed for more than just safe secretarial jobs. Women pilots known as WASP ferried aircraft and performed flying duties around the US so that more male pilots could help the war effort, while Army Nurses found themselves landing on beaches called "Anzio" and "Normandy" and flying in evacuation "hospital" planes across enemy territory. Navy Nurses served on naval hospital ships in the pacific ocean, often within range of Japanese dive bombers. In the newly formed Women's Army Corps, WAC packed parachutes, while in the Navy, Waves operated Links trainers and inspected aircraft to help male Navy pilots take the skies. President Franklin Roosevelt made this comment about the women who served in the armed forces during WWII:
"Those of us who have seen and know the work they are doing throughout the military establishment of our country and in our foreign stations have only admiration and respect for the spirit, the dignity, and the courage they have shown."
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