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A groundbreaking new history of the role of American women in WWII and their forgotten yet essential role in contributing towards the Allies' victory.
Over 400,000 women served in uniform during World War II. These women advised generals; they laid cables; they translated, communicated, and transmitted top secret intelligence; they flew planes; and they died for their country. They were directly involved in some of the most important moments of the war?the D-Day landings, the island-hopping campaign in the Pacific, the peace negotiations in Paris, to name a few. Moreover, their work?both individually and in total?was at the core of the warfighting enterprise during World War II. The servicewomen of World War II were everywhere, and they helped us win the war.
Yet until now, their stories have been relegated to the dusty shelves of military archives, used bookstores, or a passing mention in the local paper. Now Lena Andrews, a top military analyst for the CIA and an MIT PhD, corrects the record with the definitive historical account of American servicewomen in World War II.
In War Girls, Andrews introduces readers to women like Oveta Culp Hobby, Teddy Kenyon, Grace Hopper, Frances Ebersole Smith, and Aleda Lutz?and literally thousands of women just like them?who make Rosie the Riveter look downright quaint. Their stories are inspiring, shocking, and heartbreaking. Alongside these remarkable stories, War Girls reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of combat in World War II and illustrates important realities about modern warfighting that have traditionally been relegated to the footnotes of history, holding key lessons for the wars of tomorrow.
The story of military women in World War II is, at its core, the story of World War II itself. If we want to understand this war, Andrews argues, then we must know its women.