COL. ELIZABETH
P. HOISINGTON, DIRECTOR, WAC, meets with her predecessors at the Pentagon
to make a film commemorating the 25th anniversary of the WAC Left to right:
Cols. Oveta Culp Hobby, Westray Battle Boyce Long, Elizabeth P. Hoisington,
Emily C Gorman, Mary A. Hallaren, and Mary Louise Milligan Rasmuson, 14
March 1967.
THE FIRST TWO
MILITARY WOMEN TO ACHIEVE GENERAL OFFICER RANK, Brig. Gen. Anna Mae
Hays, Chief of the Army Nurse Corps (left), and Brig. Gen. Elizabeth
P. Hoisington, Director, WAC (right), with Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower
on their promotion day, 11 June 1970.
In 1969, a national political
force that had appeared to be spent revived, and the women's rights
movement again began to achieve prominence. Three years after women
won the right to vote in 1920, proposals for an Equal Rights Amendment
began to be discussed in Congress. Although the draft amendment made
little progress over the decades, federal legislative and executive
branch actions in the 1960s eliminated some forms of gender
discrimination. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 ensured equal pay for equal
work for women employed in jobs controlled by interstate commerce
laws. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited sex
discrimination in employment unless gender was a bona fide
occupational qualification. Executive Order 11246, 24 September 1965,
prohibited sex discrimination in the federal government or in
employment generated by federal contracts.
As the women's movement grew,
it attracted wide public interest and began to change some American
attitudes and social customs. The mill-
[232]
tant leaders of the movement
sought media attention by organizing women to strike against housework
and waiting on spouse and children, to seek entry into all-male clubs
and meetings, and to boycott businesses and cities that discriminated
against women in employment or promotion. These women demanded that
laws and customs that restricted their opportunities, roles, and
freedom be eliminated. Women in all walks of life joined the movement,
and its political influence grew. Even those who had initially laughed
at the attention-getting antics of some feminists were compelled to
take note when the courts upheld many of their claims. The courts
forced businesses and governments to amend discriminatory laws,
policies, customs, and regulations and to compensate women
retroactively when sex discrimination had deprived them of promotion
and pay. This side of the women's movement appealed to many,
particularly the younger, members of the women's services.
The women's movement had a
decided influence on American life. It presented society with more
liberal ideas regarding women's work, dress, and legal status. Society
accepted those ideas and, with them, changes in long-standing social
customs, relationships, and moral standards. By the late 1960s, many
Americans accepted unwed mothers, illegitimate children, and couples
who lived together without being married.
Few women in the country could
have been considered more likely to reject many of these developments
than the conservative, traditionminded WAC leadership. To them,
changes that appeared to make women more like men meant a decline, not
an improvement, in the status of women. But there was no escaping the
momentum of the women's movement and the acceptance of its goals by
most politicians.
WAC entry and retention
standards came under examination in 1970. The commander of the Army
Recruiting Command, Maj. Gen. Donald H. McGovern, wrote in May 1970,
"The movement for more liberal moral standards and the rising
emphasis toward equality of the sexes require that this command be
prepared to answer an increasing number of questions and charges
concerning the validity of allegations of discrimination against
female applicants for enlistment."39
He asked the DCSPER why
waivers could not be considered for women who had illegitimate
children or a record of venereal disease (VD) when these factors did
not bar men from enlistment or even require submission of a waiver.
The director of the WAC and
the director of procurement and distribution, ODCSPER, Brig. Gen.
Albert H. Smith, Jr., prepared the reply to General McGovern. Arguing
that American society demanded higher moral character in women, they
wrote, "Having a history of venereal
[233]
disease or having had a
pregnancy while unmarried is an indication of lack of discipline and
maturity in a woman." WAC enlistment standards, their reply
continued, were designed to ensure that the Corps accepted as few
risks as possible in mental, physical, and moral qualifications.
Employers in industry tailored employment qualifications to fit job
requirements, and the WAC established enlistment qualifications
"based on our requirements for service, wearing the uniform, and
the necessity to maintain an impeccable public image." 40
While General Hoisington
believed that granting the first waiver would open the door to endless
requests for others, she also believed that if a regulation were no
longer valid, it should be rewritten. In August 1970, Maj. Gen. Leo E.
Benade, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve
Affairs (DASD M&RA), reintroduced the subject. He had received
complaints from members of Congress, pressure groups, and ordinary
citizens, alleging that the military services discriminated against
women by barring them, but not men, from enlistment or retention if
they had had unwed pregnancies or a history of VD. Several court
actions involving the pregnancy rules had been initiated. In one
publicized case, an unmarried, pregnant Air Force nurse obtained a
court order that prevented the Air Force from involuntarily
discharging her. The Air Force appealed, but over a year passed before
the court ruled that the service could discharge her on grounds of a
compelling public interest in not having pregnant female soldiers in a
military unit. When the officer appealed that decision, the Air Force
did not fight the case by then it had decided to allow pregnant women
to submit waivers to remain on duty. The officer's request for a
waiver was subsequently approved, and she remained on duty.41
General Benade met with his
service counterparts to discuss these developments. He asked their
opinions on whether the services discriminated by barring a woman from
enlistment or retention if she had had a child out of wedlock, but did
not bar the putative father. General Benade hinted at his position,
"Congress provided that we cannot enlist the insane, the
intoxicated, the deserter, or the convicted felon. But beyond that
perhaps we should not include, as a class, the unwed mother."42
Deputy Assistant Secretary of
the Army for Personnel Policy and Programs John R. Kester, who was a
lawyer, reviewed the issues presented. He believed that, as a matter
of equity, the Army should not bar
[234]
married women or unwed mothers
from initial enlistment or appointment or from retention. Nor should
pregnancy and parenthood cause automatic dismissal from the service.
On 8 October, he directed the DCSPER "to amend and standardize
Army Regulations pertaining to ... enlistment, appointment, retention,
and separation of female members" on marriage, pregnancy, and
parenthood.43
He further asked that the proposed changes be on his
desk within a week. The DCSPER, Lt. Gen. Walter T. Kerwin, Jr., asked
for time to study the impact of the proposed changes on the budget,
housing, medical care, morale, and personnel management. In addition,
the proposal required coordination with the surgeon general, the chief
of the reserve components, the Office of Personnel Operations, the
director of the WAC, and the judge advocate general. He promised a
report on 15 January 1971 and appointed a task force of
representatives from those offices to prepare the study.44
Before the task force held its
first meeting, Under Secretary of the Army Thaddeus R. Beal asked the
DCSPER to revise Army regulations immediately to allow waivers for
some moral and administrative disqualifications affecting the
enlistment and retention of women: history of VD; civilian court
conviction; more than 30 days' lost time for being AWOL; illegitimate
pregnancy; marriage prior to an initial enlistment in the Army; or
responsibility for a child under 18 years old. Mr. Beal rejected the
idea of a new study, saying, "Although I understand that the
Staff has suggested a study in this area, I do not believe such an
effort would add significantly to what we already know; in any event,
the matter is urgent." As director of the Army Council of Review
Boards, Mr. Beal supervised the boards that decided on appeals of
discharges and other separation actions. He asked for the regulatory
changes so that the Army could avoid future embarrassment and possible
adverse court rulings and could keep its polices in line with those of
the other services. "This would not," he said, "require
any radical change in policy but would allow the Army to decide each
case individually."45
In the midst of much internal
controversy, the task force revised the regulations following Mr.
Beal's directions. General Hoisington strongly disagreed with almost
every revision. Regarding waivers that would allow married women
without previous service to enter the WAC, she wrote, "The Army
is not a suitable side job for a woman who is already
[235]
committed to maintaining a
home, a husband, or a child." Women who had unmarried pregnancies
were, she said, "likely to be disciplinary or adjustment
problems." She would not allow waivers for women with children
under eighteen and maintained that "a woman with children is a
liability to the Army because she is not free to travel."46
Maj.
Gen. Frank M. Davis, Jr., the director of military personnel policies,
also disapproved waivers to enlist unwed mothers and women with a
history of VD. He felt waivers condoned permissive personal behavior .47
And, despite his agreement with the objections, the acting
director of procurement and distribution, Col. J. K. Gilham,
recommended to General Kerwin, the DCSPER, that the Army "comply
with a second firm directive from Secretarial level."48
With one exception, the DCSPER
included in the revised regulations all the waiver provisions that Mr.
Beal had requested. Vice Chief of Staff Bruce Palmer, Jr., concurred
and withheld the waiver provision that would allow women without
previous service to enter the Army if they had responsibility for
minor children. For equity, he recommended that the provision also
apply to males without prior service. "Certainly, the Army would
be a more flexible, mobile, and responsive organization if E-1
enlistments are not burdened with responsibility for children under 18
years of age."49
He also forwarded General Hoisington's
comments, which said in part:
The recent acceleration of the
women's liberation movement and the publicity it attracts from the
news media, in my opinion, threatens to overwhelm good sense and
perspective in the management of Women's Army Corps personnel. Several
decisions have already been made on individual cases and others are
under consideration which directly undermine the effective employment
of women in the WAC and which are counter to our reason-for-being in
the United States Army.
I feel obliged, therefore, to
warn against any rash, unwarranted, and unsound decisions affecting
the enlistment, utilization, retention, and cost effectiveness of
women in the Army.
The Army has an obligation to
its current and former WAC members, to parents who have entrusted
their daughters in our keeping, and to itself, to advance the
standards of morality, the effective utilization, and morale of WAC
personnel. As Director of the Women's Army Corps, and as the spokesman
for thousands of
[236]
women who have served and are
serving in our Corps today, I feel a deep moral conviction and
obligation to make my objections known and understood. I cannot be
silent on issues and decisions affecting the Women's Army Corps that
do not consider twenty-eight years of experience we have had in
judging the morale, utilization, and discipline of Women's Army Corps
personnel. For this reason, I desire my comments be forwarded to the
Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Army for consideration and I
stand ready for a personal audience to present further arguments
supporting the actions below which are vital to the existence of the
Women's Army Corps.50
Since senior officials usually
resolve differences of opinion in conferences, General Hoisington
expected a summons to meet with Mr. Beal or Mr. Kester. Several weeks
passed without a call. With General Kerwin's permission, she wrote
directly to Mr. Beal on 24 November 1970. Her apprehension had been
heightened by the news that the funds and spaces would soon be
authorized for an 80 percent WAC expansion to support President
Nixon's call for an all-volunteer Army. Such an expansion could lead,
as it had in World War II, to a dispensation of waivers so liberal
that the quality of WAC recruits would fall. In her memo to Mr. Beal,
she argued that women's standards did not discriminate simply because
they did not parallel men's. They differed because the WAC needed
recruits of a quality higher than that needed in most of the men's
branches. "These standards," she wrote, "were set to
sustain and improve the development of a women's force whose members
exemplify the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and
moral character in the Armed Forces." Experience had shown, she
continued, that in the stress of a buildup, quality falls, and she
could no longer concur in the proposed WAC expansion unless she could
"be assured that the quality of women in the Army would not be
adversely affected by changes made in entry, retention, and separation
policies for members of the Women's Army Corps."51
When General Hoisington's memo
arrived, Mr. Kester and Mr. Beal were reviewing the revised waiver
regulations. The memo delayed their response to the revisions, and
they met with the director on 2 December. At the meeting, she urged
them to maintain WAC standards as the regulations stood, without
waiver and without change. Unsuccessful in this, she reluctantly
proposed a compromise. She would accept the submission of waivers for
a history of VD and for thirty days of lost time, if they did not
insist on waivers for women desiring entry or retention with children
born out of wedlock or with children under eighteen. This effort, too,
failed. General Hoisington recalled the conference: "It took only
a few minutes to discover they had their minds made up to allow
[237]
waivers for everything. Still,
I gave forth my best arguments and pleaded with them not to begin the
degradation of WAC standards. We went back and forth on the
qualifications and they discarded every reason I had for keeping
them." Finally, when they would not consider how many unwed
pregnancies should disqualify a woman for entry or retention, General
Hoisington gave up, and the meeting ended.52
The next day, 3 December, Mr.
Beal directed the DCSPER to authorize waivers for moral , and
administrative disqualifications for women entering the Army. He also
vetoed Vice Chief of Staff Palmer's request to defer the decision to
provide waivers for men as well as women with minor children.53
The outcome reflected a
fundamental divergence, not only between older and newer ideas on
women's military role, but also between military and civilian
officials. Being lawyers, Mr. Beal and Mr. Kester differed with
General Hoisington on the use and enforcement of Army regulations.
They wanted the regulations to protect the Army from lawsuits and to
give the service the greatest amount of flexibility in accepting and
retaining personnel. Their roles required them to uphold the rights of
individuals who were, had been, or wanted to become members of the
Army, Navy, or Air Force. To achieve those goals in the environment of
the early 1970s, they needed the authority to waive disqualifications
for entry and retention-except for insanity, drunkenness, desertion,
or felony convictions, as already provided by law.
After the DCSPER received Mr.
Beal's order, the Directorate of Military Personnel Policies, ODCSPER,
circulated its proposed policies.54
General Hoisington again refused
to concur. In a memo addressed to Mr. Beal, she wrote: "In
reviewing the DCSPER proposals on separation regulations for women in
the Army, I can only conjecture that they are based on the notion that
the Army discriminates against women by requiring their separation
when they become pregnant. It is a fact that a woman has freedom of
choice in deciding whether or not she will become pregnant. If she
elects, therefore, to become pregnant and deliberately incapacitates
herself for retention, how has the Army discriminated against
her?" Knowing that her objections would be ignored, she asked the
under secretary at least to establish firm guidelines on approving
waivers for retention of unwed mothers and to continue mandatory
discharge of women who were pregnant upon entry into the service or
[238]
who had abortions or
miscarriages while on active duty. She did not believe that a woman
should be rewarded by retention in the service after she had an
abortion, when women who rejected abortion and proceeded with their
pregnancies were mandatorily discharged. To her, this was
discrimination, even though women forced out of the service on account
of pregnancy could apply for reenlistment after two years.55
A few weeks later, General
Palmer asked for a conference with the DCSPER and the DWAC to discuss
WAC standards. At issue was a request for retention submitted by an
unmarried enlisted woman who had had an abortion. The woman's WAC
detachment commander had recommended discharge, based on the woman's
poor performance of duty; her battalion commander had recommended
retention. When General Hoisington reviewed the case, she agreed with
the detachment commander. In the director's opinion, it was better to
discharge the woman immediately because the woman was a combined poor
risk (performance of duty and moral character) and retention set a
precedent for similar cases. The director also knew the Army did not
want to rule on how many abortions should be allowed before discharge.
Mr. Kester overruled General Hoisington and approved the woman's
request for retention.
On 29 March 1971, at the
conference requested by General Palmer, General Hoisington once again
explained her view of the impending changes in the regulations. She
expressed concern that the quality of women entering and being
retained in the Corps would decline and that this decline would
diminish the Corps' image and its ability to recruit women of high
mental, moral, and physical qualifications. The vice chief listened to
General Hoisington's views and agreed with her insistence upon
retaining high standards. Nonetheless, he felt that the social and
political environment would, today or tomorrow, require the Army to
change its policies. He could not, therefore, recommend that Chief of
Staff Westmoreland initiate a challenge to the policies directed by
Under Secretary Beal. He concluded by assuring General Hoisington that
WAC requests for waivers would be sent to her for review and that her
recommendations would receive full support under the new regulations.
This assurance was faint comfort to the director, who had just seen
Mr. Kester overrule one of her decisions. 56
A message to major commanders
announced the new policies. Effective 9 April 1971, women could
request waivers for disqualification from entry and retention because
of pregnancy, terminated pregnancies, and
[239]
parenthood.57
The new
policies also affected women in the Army Medical Department, where the
views of the leadership differed markedly from those of the WAC.
Surgeon General Hal B. Jennings, Jr., had not opposed the new
policies, declaring that waivers recognized "the principles of
equality" and eliminated "an inflexible attitude toward
changing societal patterns."58
Following the Army's lead, the
other services implemented similar waiver policies.
Between 1950 and 1970, the
number of illegitimate births in the United States had almost tripled,
indicating a change in American social and moral standards.59
In line
with this trend, on 16 July 1970, the assistant secretary of defense
for health and environment transmitted a new policy on abortion to the
services. The assistant secretary advised the services' surgeons
general that abortions could be performed in their hospital
facilities, regardless of the laws of the state in which they were
located. A woman needed only to prove to a doctor's satisfaction that
the abortion was necessary for her long-term mental or physical
health.60
The 1970 policy did not affect
the WAC. Army regulations still provided that women would be
involuntarily discharged as soon as they became pregnant. If an unwed
woman had an abortion before her discharge date, she was mandatorily
discharged; a married woman could request retention on duty. General
Hoisington became deeply interested in the abortion issue when it
appeared that the new waiver policies would allow any woman who had
had an abortion to request retention. In February 1971, she asked
Judge Advocate General Kenneth J. Hodson for an opinion on whether the
Army could prohibit abortions for unmarried WACs under 21, could
require their parents' consent to the operation, or could deny a woman
an abortion if her pregnancy predated her entry into the Army. General
Hodson decided that after parents had given their consent to the
initial enlistment, a woman could make her own medical decisions. A
woman who was pregnant upon entry, howev-
[240]
er, could be discharged and
denied an abortion because she did not meet one of the basic
qualifications for enlistment. That same month the Army's surgeon
general disseminated that information as guidance to hospital
commanders.61
On 3 April, however, President
Nixon abruptly changed Defense Department policies on abortion. He
directed the services to comply with the laws of the state where their
military bases were located.62
Accordingly, abortions could only be
performed as elective surgery in military hospitals in Arkansas,
California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia,
Kansas, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina,
and Virginia. The other states permitted abortions only when the life
or health of the mother was imperiled, and military hospitals there
were obliged to follow more stringent rules.
Abortion laws changed after
1973. That year, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that
abortion was not a crime and that the states could not restrict or
prohibit a woman's right to an abortion during her first three months
of pregnancy. The ruling put the services' abortion policy out of step
with the law of the land. After waiting for the states to change their
laws (many did so slowly, hoping the decision would be reversed), the
Department of Defense again authorized military hospitals to perform
abortions regardless of state laws, beginning in September 1975.63
Then, in November 1978, Congress banned the use of federal funds for
abortions except when pregnancy was the result of rape or incest or
when the mother's life was in danger.64
Subsequent acts continued this
prohibition.
During the 1960s, as the
director and her staff struggled with improving WAC career potential
and expanding WAC strength while maintaining standards, the situation
in Vietnam intensified. In 1964, the personnel officer at
Headquarters, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), in Saigon
wrote to the director, then Colonel Gorman, that the Republic of
Vietnam was organizing a Women's Armed Forces Corps (WAFC) and wanted
U.S. WACs to assist them in planning and developing it. The MACV
commander, then General Westmoreland, authorized
[241]
spaces for two WAC advisors.65
Before the requisitions arrived at the Pentagon, the MACV personnel
officer, Brig. Gen. Ben Sternberg, wrote Colonel Gorman, offering some
friendly advice: "The WAC officer should be a captain or major,
fully knowledgeable in all matters pertaining to the operation of a
WAC school and the training conducted therein. She should be extremely
intelligent, an extrovert and beautiful. The WAC sergeant should have
somewhat the same qualities . . . and should be able to type as
well."66
Colonel Gorman replied that the WAC would
"certainly try" to send women with "the qualifications
you outline." Then, she added, "The combination of brains
and beauty is, of course, common in the WAC."67
By the time the requisitions
arrived at the Pentagon in November 1964, the director had selected
Maj. Kathleen I. Wilkes and Sgt. 1st Cl. Betty L. Adams to fill the
positions. Both had extensive experience in WAC training, recruiting,
administration, and command. On 15 January 1965, they arrived in
Saigon and were met by Maj. Tran Cam Huong, director of the WAFC and
commandant of the WAFC training center and her assistant, Maj. Ho Thi
Ve.68
The first WAC advisors to the
Women's Armed Forces Corps set the pattern of duties for those who
replaced them every year. They advised the WAFC director and her staff
on methods of organization, inspection, and management in recruiting,
training, administering, and assigning enlisted women and officer
candidates. Time did not permit the first two WAC advisors to attend
language school before they went to Saigon, but those who followed
attended a twelve-week Vietnamese language course at the Defense
Language Institute, Monterey, California. Although Major Huong and her
key staff members spoke English, a knowledge of Vietnamese was helpful
to the WAC advisors. In 1968, an additional WAC officer advisor was
assigned to the WAFC training center located on the outskirts of
Saigon. The senior WAC advisor, then a lieutenant colonel, and the NCO
advisor, then a master sergeant, remained at WAFC headquarters in the
city and continued to help the director of the WAFC to develop
Corps-wide plans and policies. For additional training, members of the
WAFC traveled to the United States. Between 1964 and 1971, fifty-one
Vietnamese women officer candidates completed the WAC Offi-
[242]
MAJ. KATHLEEN
1. WILKES AND SGT. 1ST CL. BETTY L. ADAMS, the first WAC military
advisors in Vietnam, observe the issue of uniforms to members of the
Women's Armed Forces Corps, Republic of Vietnam, 9 March 1965.
cer Basic Course at the WAC
School; one officer completed the WAC Officer Advanced Course.69
Another group of WACs was
assigned to Saigon beginning in 1965. That year General Westmoreland
requisitioned fifteen WAC stenographers for MACV headquarters. Six
arrived by December; the balance reported in over the next few months.
Women in grades E-5 and higher with excellent stenographic skills,
maturity, and faultless records of deportment filled these positions
for the next seven years. Peak strength reached twenty-three on 30
June 1970. The senior among them acted as
[243]
NCO-in-charge and the senior
WAC advisor to the WAFC was their officer-in-charge. Initially, the
women were billeted in the Embassy Hotel, but they later moved to
other hotels in Saigon. Their minimally furnished rooms were usually
air-conditioned, and they ate in cafeterias in their hotels. Saigon,
subject to frequent terrorist attacks by the Viet Cong, was a
dangerous place to live and work. Soon after the first group arrived,
the bus that took them to work was fire-bombed, but, by luck, it was
empty at the time. The incident made walking to work attractive, but
the Viet Cong were also known to plant antipersonnel bombs in
sidewalks, steps, and doorways.70
The WAC stenographers served at
MACV headquarters and in support commands throughout the metropolitan
area. Like everyone else, they worked six-and-a-half to seven days a
week, ten to fifteen hours a day, and had little time for recreation
or socializing. Nonetheless, several extended their tours in Vietnam,
and a few returned for second and third tours of duty.71
Early in 1965, General
Westmoreland had also requisitioned a dozen WAC officers. They filled
administrative positions at MACV headquarters, in the support
commands, and in the headquarters of a new command-U.S. Army, Vietnam
(USARV), located at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon. Maj. Audrey A.
Fisher, the first to arrive, was assigned to the adjutant general's
office. Like the enlisted women, the WAC officers lived in hotels in
Saigon, walked or rode Army buses to their offices at MACV, USARV,
Headquarters Area Command, Civil Operations and Rural Development
Support Agency, 1st Logistical Command, 519th Military Intelligence
Group, and others. They worked in personnel, administration, public
information, intelligence, logistics, plans and training, and military
justice. A few WAC officers served with the U.S. Army Central Support
Command at Qui Nhon and Cam Ranh Bay.
Until 1968, WACs in Vietnam
wore the green cord uniform on duty. But, after the Tet offensive of
that year, and particularly when alerts were frequent, they wore
lightweight fatigues. During nonduty hours, they could wear civilian
clothing. In Saigon, as elsewhere in Vietnam, military personnel
converted their U.S. dollars to Military Payment Certificates, the
medium of exchange in the country. Enlisted personnel were exempt from
paying income tax on their pay while assigned to Vietnam; officers
received a $500 exemption.
Representatives of the other
women's services began arriving in Saigon in 1967. Like the WACs, they
worked at Headquarters, MACV, a joint command; at Headquarters, Naval
Forces, Vietnam; and at Head-
[244]
quarters, Seventh Air Force.
Air Force women stationed in Vietnam numbered twenty-nine officers and
twenty-two enlisted women at their peak strength in June 1971. WAVES
filled one officer position in Saigon between 1967 and 1971, but no
enlisted positions. Women Marines had a continuing complement of two
officers and nine enlisted women on duty in Saigon between 1967 and
1972.72
Approximately 5,000 Army nurses and medical specialists (men
and women) served in Vietnam between March 1962 and March 1973. Eight
nurses died there, but only one perished as a result of an enemy
attack-Lt. Sharon A. Lane.73
No other women service members died in
Vietnam.
In April 1966, the USARV
deputy commanding general, Lt. Gen. Jean E. Engler, requested that a
WAC detachment be assigned to his headquarters. He asked for 50 (later
100) clerk-typists and other administrative workers, plus a cadre
section of an officer and 5 enlisted women to administer the unit.74
Some officers in USARV opposed
the idea. They believed that the additional security required for
women would outweigh the advantages of having the WACs serve in
Vietnam. However, General Engler won over the critics when he decided
to house the WACs inside the U.S. military cantonment area at Tan Son
Nhut rather than in the city, eliminating the need for additional
guards. General Engler realized that the WACs would be exposed to
risk, but he did not consider it great enough to exclude WACs, and he
did not request that women being assigned to USARV learn to fire
weapons. However, he privately decided that if they were ever assigned
to field installations there, he would recommend that they receive
small weapons training.75
General Engler's request for a
WAC unit was approved by command channels in the Pacific area and at
the Pentagon, including the director of the WAC, and, finally, by the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Earle C. Wheeler.
General Engler was notified on 25 July 1966 that his request had been
approved.76
[245]
CAPT. PEGGY
E. READY, COMMANDER, WAC DETACHMENT, VIETNAM, and Lt. Gen. Jean E.
Engler, Deputy Commander, U.S. Army, Vietnam, cut the ribbon opening
the new WAC barracks area, January 1967.
The WAC cadre arrived in the
fall of 1966.77
First to arrive were 1st Sgt. Marion C. Crawford and
the administrative NCO, Sgt. 1st Cl. Betty J. Benson. The commander,
Capt. Peggy E. Ready, the supply sergeant, S.Sgt. Edith L. Efferson,
and unit clerks Pfc. Rhynell M. Stoabs and Pfc. Patricia C. Pewitt
followed. They participated in a ground-breaking ceremony on 2
November for construction of the WAC barracks. Two months later, Army
engineers completed eleven quonset huts, called hootches, for living
quarters and unit offices. On 12 January 1967, 82 enlisted women who
were to serve that first year at Headquarters, USARV, arrived. They
were welcomed by the USARV band, the press, photographers, officer and
enlisted men from the command-and the sound of mortar fire in the
distance. The first sights and sounds of Vietnam awed the women, most
of whom had little more than twelve months' service and were between
nineteen and twenty-three years old. After their arrival, the first
sergeant wrote that the WAC area became
[246]
1ST. SGT. MARION
C. CRAWFORD, WAC DETACHMENT, VIETNAM, stands retreat with the detachment,
January 1967.
alive with activity: "The
main route or shortcut to everywhere all of a sudden went right past
the WAC detachment."78
On 21 January, the detachment celebrated
its arrival by inviting 200 guests to an open house in the WAC area.
News of the party spread, and before the evening ended the WACs had
welcomed and fed over 1,800 guests.79
Six months later, along with
the entire USARV command, the detachment moved to Long Binh post,
approximately twenty-seven miles northeast of Saigon. While the
engineers readied new barracks, the women lived in a building typical
of the tropics, with openings between the outer wallboards and no
windows. Red dust covered their rooms during the dry season, and rain
soaked them during the wet season. Because of these conditions, the
USARV commander allowed the women to wear either lightweight fatigues
or the green cord uniform before that option was authorized for all
WACs in Vietnam. Most WACs chose to wear fatigues.80
Soon after the move to Long
Binh in September 1967, the director of the WAC, then Colonel
Hoisington, arrived to visit the unit. She was eager to see the women,
gauge their morale, inspect their housing, and ensure that they were
being properly used. She was accompanied by the
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WAC Staff Adviser,
Headquarters, U.S. Army, Pacific, Lt. Col. Leta M. Frank. En route to
Saigon, the director had visited the WACs in Alaska, Japan, Korea, and
Okinawa; on her return trip she spent several days with the WACs at
Fort Shafter, Hawaii. Her interest in the region reflected the rapid
increase in the number of WACs serving there.
Before WACs were assigned to
Vietnam, only 44 WAC officers and 229 enlisted women were stationed in
the Pacific area-Hawaii, Japan, Korea, and Okinawa. As the war in
Vietnam intensified, however, the WAC detachment in Japan almost
doubled in size as WAC medical specialists arrived for duty in the
hospitals that received the sick and wounded from Vietnam. The
strength of the detachments in Hawaii and Okinawa remained about the
same throughout the war. A few officers and married, accompanied,
enlisted women rotated in and out of Korea, but no WAC detachment was
activated there. In January 1970, the WAC reached its peak strength in
Vietnam with 20 officers and 139 enlisted women; there were 54
officers and 393 enlisted women in the Pacific area.81
Colonel Frank
visited the WAC units annually, monitored their activities, kept the
director advised of their status, and forwarded to her a monthly
report received from each unit or contingent, complete with personnel
statistics and items of interest.82
The director spent a week in
Vietnam, conferring with General Westmoreland and the MACV deputy
commander, General Creighton W. Abrams; with members of the MACV
staff; and with commanders of subordinate activities. She talked with
the eight WAC officers and seventeen enlisted women then living in
Saigon and inspected their living and working quarters. She called on
now Col. Tran Cam Huong at Headquarters, WAFC, and toured the WAFC
training center.
Colonel Hoisington then went
to Long Binh. She conferred with Lt. Gen. Bruce Palmer and his
personnel officer, Brig. Gen. Earl F. Cole, who praised the
performance of the women and asked her advice about requisitioning
more. The director recommended that they authorize and requisition
enlisted women in higher grades. After she returned to the Pentagon
and reviewed the availability of volunteers, she wrote, "I think
we can settle on a figure between 120 and 150 if we can improve the
grade spread and add some MOS." And she added, "I don't want
to promise more than we can reasonably expect to receive in qualified
volunteers." At the time of the director's visit, the unit had 82
enlisted women with only one E-8 (the first sergeant), three E-7s, and
one E-6. By January 1970, the unit would have a strength of 139, with
45 women in grades E-8 through E-6. Although most of the women would
continue to be assigned in clerk-typist positions, the variety of MOSs
was widened
[248]
UPON ARRIVING IN VIETNAM to
inspect WAC units and personnel, Colonel Hoisington and her escort, Lt.
Col. Leta M. Frank, WAC Staff Adviser, U.S. Army, Pacific, are welcomed
by General Creighton W. Abrams, Deputy Commander, MACV, 21 September 1967.
to include specialists in
communications, personnel, finance, automatic data processing, and
intelligence.83
The enlisted women at Long
Binh greeted their director enthusiastically. Most of them had
graduated from basic training during the years when she commanded the
WAC Center and the WAC School (19641966). She visited their work
sections, talked to their supervisors, and inspected their barracks
and dining facilities. In a group session, she complimented their
excellent record of performance and discipline, passing along the
glowing praise of their supervisors, and, later, she allotted time to
individual discussions.84
On one of her last days in
Vietnam, Colonel Hoisington visited Army men at several outposts
beyond Long Binh. Traveling by helicopter in
[249]
COLONEL HOISINGTON
meets cadre members of the WAC Detachment, Vietnam, October 1967.
Left to right: Sp4c. Rhynell M. Stoabs, Sgt. 1st CL Betty J. Benson
(Acting 1st Sgt.), Colonel Hoisington, Captain Ready, SSgt. Edith L.
Efferson, and Pfc. Patricia C Pewitt.
the Army green cord uniform
(she shunned the offer of fatigues), she visited the 9th Division,
commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. O'Connor, at Camp Bearcat and talked
to men of the 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry. Lt. Gen. Frederick C.
Weyand, Commander, II Field Force, Vietnam, joined the group at noon.
From Bearcat, she went to base camps at Xuan Loc, Dinh Quan, and Gia
Ray to observe the work performed by field detachments of the Women's
Armed Forces Corps.85
Before leaving Long Binh and
later Saigon, Colonel Hoisington reported her findings to General
Palmer and General Westmoreland. In her opinion, the morale of the
WACs in Vietnam was high, their work was satisfying to them, their
commanders and supervisors were interested in their welfare, and they
were well housed, clothed, and fed. Though she preferred the women to
wear the green cord uniform to look neat and feminine, from
observation she knew this was not possible, at least until the
engineers completed the WAC barracks at Long Binh. Her trip enhanced
the morale of the women, reassured their parents, gave her
[250]
COLONEL HOISINGTON
visits with members of the WAC Detachment, Vietnam, in the unit's
courtyard at Long Binh, October 1967.
information about the unit,
and resulted in assignment of more WACs to Vietnam.86
Few problems of significance
arose during the seven years that WACs served in Vietnam; even losses
due to disease or injury were minimal. During the Tet offensive of
1968, when American casualties mounted, no WAC received a serious
injury. Many, however, did receive scrapes and bruises diving for
cover from incoming artillery fire since the ammunition depot at Long
Binh was a major target of the enemy. Captain Ready's replacement,
Captain Joanne Murphy described a scene in her orderly room:
Pay day, 31 January 1968, will
long be remembered by all of us. I had just started to pay and handed
SP5 [Delores A.] Balla her money when a deafening explosion went off
at the ammo dump. Glass, gravel and dust were flying. We couldn't see
for more than a few yards .... Meanwhile, SP5 Balla was lying in front
of my desk counting her money. A couple of times she called to SSG
Efferson [the acting first sergeant] asking if she should sign her
voucher.'No, child, just stay down,' Sergeant Efferson said.87
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In February, Captain Murphy
wrote Colonel Hoisington: "We had another exciting evening on 18
February when the VC again hit our ammo dump, two very spectacular
explosions, and much more dramatic than the one on pay day. The first
blast at about 0100 hours, actually bounced some women out of their
beds .... I marvel at the calm of the women." For her part,
Colonel Hoisington was constantly concerned about their safety. She
told Captain Murphy, "That Saturday (Sunday for you) when the
news began coming through, I was worried all over again and didn't
rest well until news from there sounded more peaceful .... I'm proud
of you, Sergeant Efferson, and the rest of the women for keeping cool
heads through that period."88
A unique predicament arose
over the policy of assigning married WAC volunteers to Vietnam. As the
number of American servicemen in Vietnam grew, it was inevitable that
some would be married to WACs and that the women would do their best
to be assigned to Vietnam to be near their husbands. Unfortunately,
married WACs arriving in Saigon or Long Binh usually found that their
spouses were miles away. Even if their husbands were assigned to the
same area, no family housing existed. In either case, a morale problem
resulted. In April 1968, Lt. Col. Frances V. Chaffin, Senior WAC
Advisor, MACV, asked if anything could "be done about stopping
the assignment to Vietnam of WAC personnel whose husbands are
stationed here?" She explained that they were "causing a
problem for both the Long Binh WAC Detachment and HQ, MACV . . . .
There are just no [housing] facilities."89
Civilian wives who
had soldier husbands in Vietnam also complained to their
congressmen-married WACs could be assigned to Vietnam, but civilian
wives could not even travel there. Colonel Hoisington requested a
change in policy, and the DCSPER approved a change, effective 28 May
1969, that barred the assignment to Vietnam of married enlisted women
whose husbands were serving in Vietnam because of the nonavailability
of housing for married personnel.90
As a matter of equity, the same
policy applied to WAC officers. A few WACs evaded the policy by not
reporting their marriages.91
Few WACs left Vietnam because
of pregnancy. Of 14 married women assigned to Vietnam between 1967 and
1973, 8 were pregnant upon arrival and were promptly sent home for
discharge. Between January 1967 and September 1968, 225 single WACs
arrived in Vietnam; 5 became pregnant during their tour and went home
for discharge.92
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In Vietnam, as in almost every
foreign country to which they were assigned, WACs found charitable
work to do. Soon after the detachment moved to Long Binh, the women
learned that a Catholic orphanage located at nearby Tan Heip needed
assistance. They soon adopted the orphanage, and, between 1967 and
1972, detachment personnel visited the institution weekly, providing
food and clothing as well as care and attention for the children.93
In December 1968, the WAC
detachment moved into its permanent barracks at Long Binh. The new
compound consisted of four two-story wooden buildings with cooking and
laundry facilities and a swimming pool, donated by the National WAC
Veterans Association. With housing for 130 women, the new barracks
provided ample room, and according to the detachment commander, Capt.
Nancy J. Jurgevich, was "more secure, which also makes for
privacy." She described the buildings as "new and clean. The
rooms average 20'x36', normally four or five women to a room. We have
a beautiful covered patio with a built-in stage and movie screen.
Eventually our buildings will be air conditioned."94
The strength of the WAC
detachment continued to increase. In February 1970, with 136 women
assigned, the unit was 6 over its maximum housing capacity. The
situation, however, soon changed. The withdrawal of U.S. forces from
Vietnam had begun. Within a few months, USARV could note requisition
WAC replacements to fill vacancies created by rotation. By the end of
December 1970, the WAC detachment numbered 72; by 31 December 1971,
only 46.95
In early 1972, a new WAC
director, Brig. Gen. Mildred I. C. Bailey, visited the women in
Vietnam on her tour of WAC units in the Pacific area. At the time, the
USARV WAC detachment had 35 enlisted women and was scheduled for
deactivation later in the year. General Bailey's evaluation was that
their morale and living and working conditions remained excellent.96
Two years earlier, in 1970,
the antiwar and antidraft movements had gained momentum, reaching a
crescendo when the president ordered U.S. troops into Cambodia to
destroy Viet Cong sanctuaries and supply routes. Many Americans
believed the president intended to escalate the war, and his action
was severely criticized by members of Congress, by peace groups, and
by students on college campuses from Maine to California. A student
demonstration at Kent State University brought Ohio National Guardsmen
to that campus. In the ensuing melee, guardsmen shot and
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killed four students. The
incident generated mass protests and violent demonstrations at other
campuses and in cities throughout the country. The protestors
frequently burned or damaged Army recruiting offices, ROTC
installations, and federal offices. The president ended the unrest by
withdrawing more troops from Vietnam and announcing that the draft
would end on 30 June 1973.97
When a unit was deactivated in
Vietnam, the event was called a "stand down." The last
commander of the Long Binh WAC detachment, Capt. Constance C.
Seidemann, the first sergeant, 1st Sgt. Mildred E. Duncan, and the
twelve women remaining on 21 September 1972 had a stand-down party.
Captain Seidemann described the party: "We had invited 150 guests
and about 350 came . . . . We had a special three-tiered cake with
everyone's name on it, some beautiful hand-made silk flower table
decorations, and great volumes of food and two bands."98
After
the party, the women moved to Saigon and then left for the United
States. At the end of December, two WAC officers and seventeen
enlisted women remained in Saigon at Headquarters, MACV, or
subordinate commands. By the end of March 1973, all the WACs had left
Vietnam.99
WACs served successfully in
Vietnam between 1966 and 1972. Approximately 700 WACs served there;
none died there. Nor were any taken prisoner or reported missing. One
woman, Sp5c. Sheron L. Green, received the Purple Heart-the only WAC
to receive that medal since World War 11.100
Many WACs received meritorious
service awards for their contributions during the Vietnam War. Among
such awards were the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Army
Commendation Medal, Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and Joint
Service Commendation Medal. Capt. Catherine A. Brajkovich received the
Army Commendation Medal for heroism; she had alerted residents of a
bachelor officers hotel in Saigon of a fire in the building. Maj.
Gloria A. S. Olson, a journalist and photographer with the Office of
the Chief of Information, MACV, received the Air Medal for having
flown in the equivalent of 127 aerial combat missions totaling 198 air
hours during her tour in Vietnam. Maj. Sherian G. Cadoria received the
Air Medal for meritorious achievement.101
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The WAC Detachment, USARV,
received unit service awards for its service in Vietnam during the
Vietnam Counter-Offensive Phase II (1 July 1966-31 May 1967) and the
Tet Offensive Campaign (30 January 1968-1 April 1968).102
In
retrospect, General Engler characterized the participation of the WACs
in Vietnam as "superb." He continued, "They handled
clerical and management assignments in headquarters Vietnam in an
outstanding manner. It would have been a serious mistake not to use
their skills. The decision to deploy the WAC's to Vietnam was
correct."103
The war in Vietnam would be the last in which women
would participate as members of a separate Women's Army Corps of the
United States Army.
In April 1971, General
Hoisington announced she would retire on 31 July of that year. The
annual brigadier general promotion board met in May and selected Col.
Mildred Inez Caroon Bailey. Secretary Resor then announced that she
would be the eighth director of the Women's Army Corps.104
Because of the standards
controversy, General Hoisington left the directorship with ambivalent
feelings about her tour. Many positive events had occurred: the
promotion of twelve WAC officers to full colonel and one to brigadier
general; the attendance of WAC officers at the senior service
colleges; initiation of the WAC Student Officer Program; establishment
of a WAC NCO Leadership Course, and a WAC Personnel Specialists Course
at WAC School. WAC strength had expanded from 9,958 in 1966 to 12,781
in 1971.105
A WAC unit had served successfully in Vietnam. Discharge
on marriage was reinstated. A fundraising drive had been initiated to
build a WAC Museum. The WAC Journal had begun quarterly publication.
General Hoisington, however,
was sorely disturbed by the Army's decision to grant waivers for
enlistment, appointment, and retention on duty in cases of pregnancy,
parenthood, and other disqualifications. To her, such changes signaled
the beginning of the end-the disintegration of the high standards the
Corps had upheld since 1942. In the closing days of her tour, she said
to her staff, "I would trade the stars today to recover what we
have lost this year."106
[255]
GENERAL HOISINGTON
shares a moment at her retirement review at WAC Center, Fort McClellan,
with her mother, Mrs. Gregory Hoisington, 30 July 1971.
The director set aside her
personal disappointment and completed her last few months in office
with typical energy and diligence. She oriented General Bailey and
participated in farewell parties and ceremonies for her retirement. On
Friday, 30 July, she went to Fort McClellan for a formal retreat
ceremony followed by a reception and dinner party at the Officers
Club. The next morning, a retirement review was held in her honor at
the Marshall Parade Ground. Army Chief of Staff Westmoreland attended
the ceremony and presented her with the Distinguished Service Medal
the
third WAC to receive it. In his remarks, General Westmoreland said:
"Elizabeth Hoisington's associates in the Army will long remember
her as the zealous guardian of the standards of the Women's Army
Corps. In her we found our modern-day Pallas Athene and, like Pallas
Athene, she is renowned and respected for her courage and
wisdom."107
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