Customer Reviews

Wacs: Women's Army Corps

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Vera Williams is probably the best popular author of books about American women's military service during World War II, and this title is up to her excellent standard. Her previous book on the WASPs (Women's Airforce Service Pilots), now sadly out of print, combines conventional history with songs, anecdotes, reminiscences, and interviews with the spunky, sassy women who played such an important role during the war. It is a great mix that conveys the mood of that distant moment, from the perspective of the special people who are the book's subject.

This new book on the Women's Army Corps is in the same charming mold. Unlike so many books on the role of women in military service, this one avoids the whining, petulant attitude so common in books of this genre - the books where the men are all the enemy and the women are all virtue personified.

Instead of complaining that the women weren't armed with rifles and bayonets and sent to the front to fight as equals with the men (a strong undercurrent in a lot of books about women in the military), WACS tells the story from the perspective of the women themselves, both then and now - in a friendly, generally positive tone. One of the best things about this book is its lack of "politically correct" agenda - it is the story of an interesting era, filled with interesting people doing important things, unfiltered (much) by the modern military battle of the sexes.

Like the WASP book, it includes lots of stories, charming anecdotes, some excellent archival photography from the National Archives, from scrapbooks, and from modern sources. The whole package is entirely delightful and provides an intimate portrait of some adventurous women who served their country in adventurous ways. This is a great book for anybody who was a WAC, knows somebody who was a WAC, or (as in my case) ever dated a WAC. It is also a great book for anybody who really wants to understand just where women fit in the history of the US Army during World War II and after, until the Women's Army Corps was finally disbanded.

Vera Williams' book provides a great help to readers and researchers seeking to learn about the roles played by the Women Army Corps during World War II. While offering her own viewpoint at times, the book nonetheless charts the awareness of a need for women's help in the war effort, to their formation and training, and ultimately how they served their country in uniform.

Filled with anecdotes and photos, there hasn't been a comparable book I could find that allowed me to learn as much about the challenges faced by women against a skeptical military bureaucracy and a population that had misperceptions and stereptyped views at odds with the really important work performed by these pioneering women in uniform.

For its rare subject and helpful information, this book is very helpful to appreciate the efforts of a largely undersung military organization contributing to war's end.