| My July column features 3 pages from the War
Department’s Army Service Forces Monthly Progress Report on Health (Section
7), giving data as of March 31, 1943. This report was classified “Confidential”
during World War II and has since been declassified. The pages selected
from the report reveal the status of Army general and station hospitals
in the mid-war period, as well as the Army’s prediction of medical and
social problems for the influx of “anticipated” WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary
Corps) personnel.
The documents reveal that a major expected
Army problem with WAACs, from a medical standpoint, was their supposed
tendency to venereal disease (placed somewhat alarmingly under “New Problems
for 1943” on p. 8 of the Disease and Injury section in this report, as
shown). With regard to this sexually-transmitted condition, the Army
stated, “it should not be surprising if rates for the WAACs will appear
comparatively high” (that is, compared to civilian rates).
This statement is clear proof of wartime Army
male leadership fears that women would engage in elevated sexual misconduct
while in uniformed military service. Previous paragraphs on the same
page emphasize the perceived venereal threat, as well as the inability
to control the problem through punitive measures. Such prejudicial
attitudes typically confronted American women entering the service of their
country during World War II.
The statistics on Army general and station
hospitals in the United States is an important indicator of the military
workload for female service members engaged in nursing and related medical
tasks.
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2008 by Shelby L. Stanton - All rights reserved
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