Warhawk Almanac - Whitewater WACs serve in WWII

The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) developed so that women could support men fighting in combat during World War II by performing a wide variety of tasks. The Women’s Army Corps began as the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) in May 1941 when a U.S. Representative named Edith Nourse Rogers of Massachusetts wrote a bill that created the WAAC. [1] Because Ms. Rogers had observed that women veterans in World War I had not been given their dues, Rogers promised that if American women decided to serve in the military, they would be able to do so with all the rights and benefits given to the soldiers. Fort Des Moines, Iowa, was selected as the site of the first WAAC training center. Over 35,000 women from all over the United States applied for less than 1,000 positions. After they completed training, women served as clerks, typists, drivers, cooks, and unit cadre. The women typically performed in four areas: baking, clerical, driving, and medical. Within one year of the WAAC being operational, over 400 jobs were open to women.[2]

In January 1943, Edith Rogers introduced in both houses of Congress bills that would allow and encourage the enlistment and commissioning of women in the Army of the United States, or Reserve forces, instead of the traditional enlistments in the U.S. Army. When President Roosevelt signed the bill into law on July 1^st, 1943, it gave women all the rank, privileges, and benefits that their male comrades had.[1]

The WAC recruited at Whitewater State Teacher’s College for women to serve in positions that would free men to be sent to battle.  Two graduates who served in the war effort were Margaret M. Fleming and Eleanor Wezeman.

 Sgt. Margaret M. Fleming 

Margaret Fleming was a 1940 graduate from the Whitewater State Teacher’s College (now UW-W) who went on to join the Women’s Army Corps in 1943.[2] While at Whitewater, Fleming was a part of the varsity women’s hockey team via the Women’s Athletic Association[3], where she played in the position of goalie, scoring a significant number of points[4]. She was also in the Commercial Club for four years and the Photography Club her sophomore year[5]. In the WAC, Fleming served as chief clerk in the Adjutant General’s Department Headquarters.  She was stationed in Cairo, Egypt.[6]

Lt. Eleanor Wezeman 

Lt. Eleanor Wezeman was a Whitewater graduate who, after graduation, began teaching at the Chicago Christian High School.[7] In college, Eleanor was part of the women’s bowling team, which at one point had an average score of 160.[8] She later focused on post-graduate studies at the University of Denver in Colorado. In 1943, she signed up to be a WAC, completing the standard training in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. She was in service in various places including Florida, Colorado, and Mississippi. Before entering officer candidate school, she was stationed at Chanute Field, Illinois. 

Let us not forget the women who contributed to the war effort in World War II by enlisting in various branches of the military, doing a wide variety of tasks to help support the men in combat.