Women in Service: The Price of Liberty | US Department of Defense Documentary | ca. 1954

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This short film – originally titled as "The Price of Liberty" – is a documentary produced by the U.S. Department of Defense. It was released in circa 1954 and narrated by award-winning broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite.

It is an overview of the history of women in the US military from the American Revolution through the two world wars to the Korean conflict. The film extols the value of the contributions of women to America’s Armed Forces. It emphasizes the work that women have done and are doing to preserve the American way of life. Women are shown in a variety of jobs, from nursing, operating radio equipment, plotting courses on maps, operating intelligence equipment, and other jobs. The film ends with women being awarded for their service, and the idea that women are needed in the military to supplement our "manpower."

Prominent historical figures who appear in the film:
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower at 1:06
- Molly Pitcher (in reenactment) at 2:05
- a young Franklin D. Roosevelt as Assistant Secretary of the Navy at 2:58
- General John J. Pershing at 3:25
- Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at 3:37
- British Prime Minister Winston Churchill with General Mark W. Clark at 7:56
- Secretary of Defense James Forrestal at 8:42
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND / CONTEXT

For thousands of years in a substantial number of cultures and nations, women have served in various roles in the military, from ancient warrior women to those currently serving in current armed conflicts.

While the majority of combatants in most cultures have been men, a number of women in history have fought alongside them. In the American Civil War, there were women who sometimes even fought cross-dressed as men. Fighting on the battlefront was not the only way women involved themselves in war. Some also served as nurses and aides.

From the beginning of the 1970s, most Western armies have begun to admit women to serve active duty in all of military branches.

Women's Army Corps:
Beginning in October 1940, men between 21 and 35 were drafted for military service and on December 11, 1941, the US declared war on against Japan's allies, Germany and Italy. As their husbands, sons and brothers left home, many American women asked, “how about us?” Acting as their spokeswoman, Representative Edith Nourse Rogers introduced a bill in May 1941 calling for the creation of an all-volunteer women's corps in the US Army.

Initially, members of Congress, the press and the military establishment joked about the notion of women serving in the Army, but as America increasingly realized the demands of a war on two fronts (the Pacific and Europe), leaders also faced an acute manpower shortage. In May 1942, the House and the Senate approved a bill creating the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). Although the women who joined considered themselves in the Army, technically they were civilians working with the Army. By spring of 1943, 60,000 women had volunteered and in July 1943, a new congressional bill transformed the WAAC to the Women's Army Corps (WAC), giving Army women military status. Its first director was Oveta Culp Hobby, a prominent society woman in Texas.

The Army opened five WAAC training centers and in July 1942, the first group of 440 women officer candidates and 330 enlisted women began training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. Except for weapons and tactical training, the women's courses paralleled those for Army men, as did their training circumstances.

In 1942, WAACs began deploying overseas. As World War 2 continued, most overseas assignments were to the European Theater of Operations an over 8,300 served in England, France, Germany and Italy. Others deployed to the Pacific and the Far East.

Women performed their duties like seasoned troopers—even amid unhealthy and uncomfortable conditions. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Allied Commander, praised the WACs highly, calling them “my best soldiers,” and alleged that they worked harder than men, complained less and were better disciplined.

The WAC was disbanded in 1978, and all units were integrated with male units.

For more information on this historical topic, see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_military
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Army_Corps
Women in Service: The Price of Liberty | US Department of Defense Documentary | ca. 1954

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NOTE: THE VIDEO REPRESENTS HISTORY. SINCE IT WAS PRODUCED DECADES AGO, IT HAS HISTORICAL VALUES AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. THE VIDEO HAS BEEN UPLOADED WITH EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. ITS TOPIC IS REPRESENTED WITHIN CONTEXT.

Видео Women in Service: The Price of Liberty | US Department of Defense Documentary | ca. 1954 канала The Best Film Archives