Women and the American War Effort

(Updated 01/30/09)

I was recently asked to help with a local project, by locating photos of women involved in the various American war efforts, including soldiers and nurses in combat as well as women who remained at home in various roles. Thanks to Google Images, this task was quite easy, but I was struck by the differences in the images seen the published photos over the years.

The photos of the women in service have more similarities than differences through the years. Only the styles and, in some cases, the duties have changed. For example (please click photos for source):

Dr. Mary Walker, the only Woman Recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor (Civil War)

Medal of Freedom Recipient Genevieve de Galard-Terraube (WWII)

Pvt. Lori Piestewa, 1^st Native American woman to die in combat on foreign soil. (Iraq)

Likewise, published photos of nurses through each war have highlighted their serene sense of purpose, grace and class:

1^st documented Army Nurses of American Indian (Sioux) heritage (Spanish-American War)

Military Nurses (Vietnam)

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Betsy Myhre, a nurse practitioner assigned to the Cooperative Medical Assistance Team on Bagram Air Field, looks at children from a nomadic Kuchi tribe before a medical engagement in Dah Khawak, Panjshir, Afghanistan, May 29, 2008

It is the differences in the published photos of the women that stayed at home that struck me.

Clara Barton, 1^st Pres. of the American Red Cross (Civil, Spanish-American Wars)

Factory Riveter in Texas (WWII)

Members of a Women’s Club in the 1940’s (WWII)

Members of a Women’s Organization in the 1960’s (Vietnam)

Member of a Women’s Organization, early 21^st Century (Iraq)

???

Yes, every war has had its protesters and subversives, as well as its patriots..both male and female…and much of the difference may not actually be individual women over the centuries, but in the type of behavior and attitudes that are glorified in the media. These images, however, speak volumes regarding the roll of women in supporting the American war effort, then and now.

FHK Fighting-Women Archive