Women's Roles In Ww2 Essay

During World War II, many men lost their lives serving their countries. In the United States, the government issued a draft, meaning many men had to leave their jobs to serve in the military. As these men were leaving their positions to serve in the military, women began to fill the roles in the workforce men used to fill. Gender barriers were broken rather quickly during this time, and women had to begin working jobs that were previously ran by only men in order to keep provide for the family as well as for the war. While women indeed began to fill a more prominent role in this respect, many women played a much more fascinating role. These women began serving in Government programs related to the military such as the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Though this program did not receive militarization until after it had already disbanded, the women who served in this program used their talents to help support the U.S. Air Force outside of combat. In an interview with Texas Women’s University, former WASP Dorothy Allen shares how she came across the …show more content…
Graduates of this program would work in various position. “They were assigned to air bases across the country to ferry planes from points of embarkation. They towed targets, served as flight instructors, and flew radio-controlled planes,” (History of the WASP) Despite the deactivation of the program in December 20, 1944, former WASP eventually received militarization in 1977 and in 2009 received the Congressional Gold Medal. The WASP helped our country in ways unimaginable by most due to gender barriers, and their role eventually led to the Defense Department giving permission to women to fly military planes. Though the proper militarization of the WASP did not happen until after World War II, the program still played a beneficial role during that time, which is where Dorothy Allen’s story takes