Women Marines: The World War II Era

The nexus of this study lies in the recollections of 146 Women Reservists who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and who were surveyed by Peter Soderbergh in 1990 and 1991. Soderbergh's purposes were (1) to gather primary data before it was lost; (2) to cast the women's experiences in the social context of their time; (3) to contrast the role of women in the armed forces of the 1940s with the role they play today; (4) to give these female pioneers a voice that speaks to current generations about values, relationships with male counterparts, patriotism, and competence; and (5) to provide a yardstick with which we may measure how much, if any, progress women have made in our patriarchal society over the past half-century. His study provides a social chronicle of a little-studied facet of U.S. military and women's history.

The basic purpose of the book is to pay tribute to the women of the World War II generation who were courageous enough to join the newly created military auxiliaries. It is the only study of its kind done on Women Reservists in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. There have been official histories written by female Marine officers, but this is the first social history. The oral histories of these women add a dimension to our understanding of what life was like for Women Reservists. These women, most of them now in their seventies, come alive as they share their experiences openly, express their feelings candidly, and remember the good war vividly. The book inccludes many vintage photographs from the 1943-1946 period. Women who have or are serving in the military and their families, those interested in women's studies, and students of the military will be especially interested in this volume.