Customer Reviews

American Women in World War I: They Also Served

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Gavin has written a clear, detailed history of the women and the various organizations they belonged to while serving their country during World War I. These often-overlooked women (finally!) get full credit for the back-breaking work they performed to serve "their boys." The real shame is that they returned to a nation which proved to be so terribly ungrateful that the women could not even get equal benefits that their male counterparts received. Gavin has organized her book by the various units and organizations that sent women "over there" and at the end lists those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who earned recognition, more often from other countries, for the work they did.

Journalist Lettie Gavin first became interested in women's World War I experiences when she wrote an article back in 1978 about a retired Signal Corps woman denied veteran's status. She and other women had not been recognized for their service: AMERICAN WOMEN IN WORLD WAR I: THEY ALSO SERVED goes far in charting these stories, documenting the experiences and service of women during the first world war. By the time Gavin began interviewing survivors it was a race against time, as living veterans were dying off: her interviews together with her research from historical archives, diaries, letters and memoirs pair with some black and white photos to create a fine memoir.

Diane C. Donovan

California Bookwatch

Wow, I just read Ms. Gavin's book as part of my research for a novel set during World War I. The book is a wonderful compendium of pictures, actual eye-witness accounts and statistics concerning the more than 25,000 women who served in uniform Over There. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the history of the Great War and the role that women played in it.

Merline Lovelace, Colonel, USAF (Ret)