80984 " THAT MEN MAY FIGHT " WORLD WAR II WOMEN'S RESERVE WAVES U.S. NAVY MOVIE
This WWII movie shows the U.S. Navy's WAVES, the acronym for the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, the World War II women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve. The film shows WAVE training in San Diego, California. The film shows WAVES employed as stenographers, postal clerks, telephone operators, air traffic control, pharmacists mates, dental hygienists, aerographers, store keepers, and more. At the 5:30 mark, women are shown operating LINK trainers and repairing aircraft as aviation machinists mates at the Air Station at Norman, Oklahoma. The women's softball team, such as you might have seen in "A League of Their Own" is also shown. <p><p>The WAVES was established on 21 July 1942 by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by the president on 30 July 1942, as the Title V amendment to the Naval Reserve Act of 1938. This authorized the U.S, Navy to accept women into the naval reserve as commissioned officers and at the enlisted level, effective for the duration of the war plus six months. The purpose of the law was to release officers and men for sea duty and replace them with women in shore stations.<p><p>The notion of women serving in the Navy was not widely supported in the congress or by the Navy, although some members did support the need for uniformed women during wartime. Nonetheless, the persistence of several women laid the groundwork for success. The congressional act allowing women to serve in the Navy became a reality, in large measure, through the efforts of the Navy’s Women’s Advisory Council, Dr. Margaret Chung, and Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the president.<p><p>Mildred H. McAfee became the first director of the WAVES. She was commissioned a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy on 3 August 1942, and was the first woman commissioned in the US Naval Reserve. McAfee, on leave as president of Wellesley College, was an experienced educator and highly respected in her field.<p><p>The age for officer candidates was between 20 and 49, with a college degree, or two years of college and two years of equivalent professional or business experience. The enlisted age requirements were between 20 and 35, with a high school or business diploma, or equivalent experience. United States citizenship was required in each case. WAVES were primarily white and middle class. Little attempt had been made to recruit African-American or other women minorities until October 1944. However, 72 African-American women did eventually serve in it he WAVES and on a fully integrated basis. The WAVES peak strength was 86,291, which included 8,475 officers, 73,816 enlisted, and about 4,000 in training.<p><p>We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."<p><p>This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com