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The Women's Army Corps (WAC)

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The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was an excellent group that provided help and success throughout World War II. It was created on May 15, 1942 as the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, and became converted to full status as the Women’s Army Corps on July 1st, 1943. The WAC was also made for the purpose to allow women to help the war effort of the Americans individually. It was created so the women could also serve in noncombat positions all over the world. It was a worldwide organization, and women who were apart of it served in places such as North Africa, China, India, Burma, Europe, the Southwest Pacific, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. At first, people, especially men, had a difficult time with the thought of women in uniform, but later …show more content…

Life wasn’t anything they imagined to be like in the Army. It was different from their everyday lives, because they were faced with a lot more responsibility. With all the work they had to do, some women skipped meals and became ran down, while losing a lot of weight. The WACs did not like the idea of wearing uniforms, just as much as the men. Some men actually threatened to divorce their wives, and refused to let sisters or girlfriends join, because they were considered at a lower standard than the men, and didn’t think the women could live up to the expectation. Another not so fun experience was the training portion. Training began at 6am everyday, and it was cold and tiring. WACs practiced through whatever the weather condition, but the most common type of weather they had to train in was the snow, and below zero temperatures. Some of the women did not dress appropriately for the training, like wearing a huge coat over a thin dress, which caused them to get sick. Illnesses were very common, especially overseas in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). Some of the illnesses were dermatitis, caused by the humidity and the heavy clothes worn by the WACs, malaria, and pneumonia and bronchitis, which happened from a shortage of dry footwear. Some of the WACs in the SWPA got extremely sick, which caused them to have to leave their theaters. In the SWPA, women had a very high maintenance …show more content…

But, they overcame the men 's hostility, and made not just them, but most of the world realize that creating the WAC was a good decision and a huge help. The biggest impact that the women had was when they helped diminish the shortage of men at the beginning. Women contributed to the war effort, and served in the Army, which allowed it to be more successful. In addition to this, WACs helped give additional resources that were needed in the Army, such as working in many different jobs. WACs assisted the Army to achieve great accomplishments, and although many people were not very fond of them at first, they began to realize they needed them. From then on, the Army wanted the Women’s Army Corps to grow, as they continued to have more and more jobs

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