We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,545,800.66 | Books Available: 800,429 | Members Online: 222

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - "A Defense Weapon Known to Be of Value": Servicewomen of the Korean War Era

A Defense Weapon Known to Be of Value Servicewomen of the Korean War Era
Author: Linda Witt, Judith Bellafaire, Britta Granrud, Mary Jo Binker

Fewer than five years after World War II, the United States found itself once again confronted by a war for which it was unprepared. Once again a downsized military establishment rushed to call up, draft, and recruit the needed manpower. And once again when it came up short, the services asked American women to leave their homes, jobs, and famil... more »ies to serve their country.

This book chronicles the crucial work of servicewomen in the Korean War, and other uniformed women who helped support that war and the burgeoning Cold War in places as far flung as the Pacific atoll of Kwajalein, bases in still-occupied post-war Germany and Japan, and lonely, isolated outposts such as Great Falls, Montana. The few short years between 1945 and 1953 saw pivotal changes in women's status in the U.S. Armed Forces. In a series of controversial and sometimes bitter legislative contests, women went from being almost a historical footnote in the immediate postwar period--a source of labor and skills the nation's military took for granted--to winning a permanent place in each branch of the armed services.

Largely based on the rich archives housed at the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation, this volume records the actions of women who served in the armed forces, as well as those in the Red Cross, the USO, and other nongovernmental organizations that sent women overseas in support of U.S. military personnel. Topics include the efforts of the Department of Defense to increase the number of female recruits for the Korean War and the difficulty of retaining them in an era that valued homemakers and devalued career women; the cost to the military of the female talent drain just when the military needed them most; and a close look at Army, Navy and Air Force nurses, as well as those in the innovative M.A.S.H. units, who all performed magnificently under dangerous and harsh conditions.

The book's conclusion assesses the failure of the military to fully incorporate women during these years as a result of its own paternalistic mindset (shared by society at large) coupled with the failure of wartime recruiting efforts and the low retention rate for servicewomen. The authors argue that the number of servicewomen remained far below authorized levels throughout this period, and the continued small size of the women's components resulted in their inability to accomplish their mission. According to the authors, this hurt the credibility of the women's services and haunted them for years, reinforcing the rock-solid belief of many that the military was for men, and women did not belong there.

ISBN-13: 9781584654728
ISBN-10: 1584654724
Publication Date: 5/6/2005
Pages: 336
Rating:

Currently 3/5 Stars.

3 stars, based on 1 rating

Publisher: University Press of New England
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

History >> Middle East >> General
History >> Military >> General
History >> Military >> Korean War >> General
History >> Military >> United States >> General
Nonfiction >> Social Sciences >> Sociology >> General
Nonfiction >> Women's Studies >> General
Nonfiction >> Women's Studies >> History

Back to the Top ↑

Search - "A Defense Weapon Known to Be of Value": Servicewomen of the Korean War Era

Loading...