Breaking Barriers: Women in the Military

For centuries, women have helped to defend the nation in times of war and conflict. In this tribute to those who served, the Dunn Museum shares unique Lake County stories and explores women's roles as nurses, auxiliary personnel, enlistees, and officers in the U.S. military. The nation's struggle was their struggle, and women wanted to have a larger role, equal to men in responsibility and risk.

The Women’s Army Corps (WAC) began as the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in 1942, created in response to the war effort facing an acute manpower shortage at the beginning of World War II.

Early in 1941, U.S. Representative Edith Nourse Rogers (1881-1960) of Massachusetts introduced a bill to establish an auxiliary corps to serve alongside the Army. Rogers’ wished “to answer an undeniable demand from American women that they be permitted to serve their country, together with the men of America, to protect and defend their cherished freedoms and democratic principles and ideals.” After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 4, 1941 any opposition to women serving with the Army faded and the WAACs were authorized on May 15, 1942.

In December 1942, Fort Sheridan, near Highland Park, IL became the second post to receive a WAAC unit. The women worked as clerks, truck drivers, mechanics, laboratory assistants and sold war bonds. In 1943 they were joined by one of the first African American units assigned to Fort Sheridan.

Over 150,000 American women served in the WAC during World War II. The Women's Army Corps disbanded in 1978 and all members were fully integrated into the U.S. Army.

Every item that members of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) wore had to be standard Army issue–uniforms, work clothes, off duty clothes, underwear, and accessories.

A utility purse was also part of the WAC uniform–the uniform pockets were mostly decorative rather than functional. Café brown was the official color for bags and shoes in the 1950s and 60s. 

World War II regulation shoes were Oxford style and russet brown. WACs were allowed to wear makeup while on duty and the insignia on the powder compact made it part of the uniform.

Mary Jane (Lett) Lucas (1921-2014)

Mary Jane (Lett) Lucas was born in Bertrand, Missouri. She was the first woman in her area to enlist in the newly created Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) in 1942. She trained at Fort Des Moines, IA. 

In December 1942, Lucas was with the first unit of WAACs to arrive at Fort Sheridan, and recalled that “they didn’t know what to do with us.” Initially, she was given a job as usher at the post theater. She remained at the post for the duration of the war. 

When the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) was created in July 1943, the WAACs were offered the choice of an honorable discharge or enlistment in the U.S. Army. Lucas enlisted. She was taught how to drive and chauffeur officers, assist at the post’s Medical Laboratory , and tasked with selling war bonds at regional events.

1st Lieutenant Sarah (Pankonin) O'Brien (b. 1929)

In 1953, after completing her studies at the University of Washington, Sarah (Pankonin) O’Brien, a native of Wauconda, IL enlisted as a dietician in the U.S. Army Women’s Medical Specialist Corps.

She was assigned as an intern to the 5th Army at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C. There she faced the realities of the Korean War (1950-1953) while caring for many young servicemen who had lost arms and legs.

One of O’Brien’s patients was her future husband, Raymond F. O’Brien (1929-2015), who had served in the Korean War with the 5th Regimental Combat Team and 2nd Infantry Division.

Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES) was authorized on July 30, 1942, allowing women to join the U.S. Naval Reserve (Women’s Reserve) during World War II. Women in the WAVES were fully part of the Navy–not an auxiliary unit –receiving equal pay and benefits, and able to be commissioned officers. Dr. Mildred McAfee (1900-1994), President of Wellesley College, was selected to be in charge of the WAVES as a Lieutenant Commander, finishing her career as a Captain.

Requirements to enlist included being 20 to 35 years old and having a high school diploma, finished business school or equivalent experience. In order to be considered for officer candidate school the age range was 20 to 40 years old with a college degree or two years of college plus two years of experience.

Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, IL was one place WAVES could be assigned. At peak staffing in January 1943, there were over 100 officers and over 650 enlisted women stationed on the base. The base had no barracks for women, however, so they had to commute from housing in Lake Forest, IL.

By the end of the war on September 2, 1945, over 80,000 women had served in the WAVES. There was strong support within the Navy to allow women to serve permanently. This support helped lead to the enactment of the Women’s Armed Service Integration Act in June 1948, giving women regular, permanent status in any branch of the U.S. Military.

Marion (Mohr) Schwerman,  Telegrapher 2nd Class (1923–2009)

Marion (Mohr) Schwerman grew up in Lake Zurich, IL, graduating from Ela Township High School. By the start of World War II she worked in downtown Chicago in the Board of Trade building–the same building which held a recruiting office for the Navy Women Accepted for Volunteer Service (WAVES). Seeing the WAVES office daily, she decided to sign up to do her part. 

Ten days later she arrived at boot camp for the WAVES. Schwerman described the next six weeks: “We went to class, we sang as we marched, it was a regular routine that they put the guys through. Just because we were women didn’t make any difference, we still had to do boot camp.” Next she was stationed in Washington D.C. for telegraphy school before being posted to Corry Field in Pensacola, FL. She filed military flight plans, which needed to be telegraphed to Washington during the war. She rose from Yeoman to Telegrapher 2nd Class. 

After discharge, Schwerman returned to Lake Zurich and on her second day home met Chester “Chet” Schwerman–whom she married in 1948. They lived in Libertyville, IL where Schwerman was involved with veterans’ affairs, serving as President of the Libertyville Unit of the Illinois American Legion Auxiliary and as President at the state level.

American haute couture women’s clothing designer, Mainbocher, designed the World War II WAVES uniforms and accessories. WAVES had four uniforms: working blues, summer grays (a light weight white and gray pinstripe), summer dress whites, and dress blues.

Image: Lieutenant Harriet Ida Pickens and Ensign Frances Wills, the first African American women to be commissioned as officers, in full WAVES dress blues, complete with the required gloves. 1944 Naval History and Heritage Command

The American Red Cross was founded on May 21, 1881 by Clara Barton (1821-1912). Barton volunteered as a nurse during the Civil War (1861-1865) comforting wounded soldiers on battlefields and in hospitals, earning the nickname “Angel of the Battlefield.” 

After the Civil War, Barton traveled to Switzerland where she was inspired by the Swiss Global Red Cross, “which called for international agreements to protect the sick and wounded during wartime and for the formation of national societies to give aid voluntarily on a neutral basis.” She founded the American Red Cross to give relief to American Armed Forces and their families and provide national and international disaster relief.

During the Spanish-American War in 1898 Jane Delano (1862-1919) created the American Red Cross Nursing Program. Under this program “nurses volunteered for service in times of war and disaster and created programs for emergency response and the advancement of health care in peacetime.”

Delano traveled across the United States speaking to and enrolling nurses in the Red Cross Nursing program. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, there were over 8,000 registered nurses immediately available for duty because of her efforts in the preceding years. In 1918, the entire Red Cross volunteer membership expanded to 20 million adult and 11 million junior Red Cross members.

Delano also worked to “dignify the position of nurses in the medical community,” given that previously they had not been recognized as members of the medical profession. During World War II, the Red Cross initiated a national blood donation program to collect blood and plasma for the war wounded. They collected 13.3 million pints of blood for the Armed Forces in the first year of the program. After the war, a nationwide civilian blood donation program was activated.

Today, the American Red Cross focuses on five areas of service: 

• People affected by disasters in America 
• Support for the members of the military and their families
• Blood collection, processing and distribution
• Health and safety education and training
• International relief and development

www.redcross.org

The North Lake County Chapter of the American Red Cross operated in Waukegan’s former U.S. Post Office building from 1945-1946, assisting discharged servicemen and women in filing claims for injuries, disease, and disabilities related to their military service.

Sonia (Bowers) Dreikosen (1929–2011)

Sonia (Bowers) Dreikosen was a French native, who immigrated to the United States after World War II. 

In 1946, she was engaged to Roscoe Orville Bowers, Jr., who posted bond on behalf of Dreikosen so she could enter the country permanently. They were married a year later. In the 1950s she served in the American Red Cross at the Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, IL. The Bowers eventually divorced and she married Wallace Charles Dreikosen in 1955. They lived in Waukegan and Mettawa, IL. Dreikosen was a manicurist by profession and also taught fencing.

During World War II the U.S. Coast Guard moved men from administrative positions to the sea, and women were recruited to fill the vacant clerical jobs. 

On November 23, 1942 legislation approved the creation of the U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Reserve. Given the name “SPARS” after the Coast Guard motto “Semper Paratus, Always Ready,” these women would do the same noncombat jobs as men while receiving the same wages. 

Ten thousand women volunteered between 1942 and 1946. The first group of SPARS recruits were from the Navy’s Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), led by Director Dorothy Stratton, who was from the WAVES. Stratton is credited with naming the SPARS after the Coast Guard motto. 

The average woman in the reserves was a single, 22-year-old high school graduate with some work experience. These women went through the same four- to six-week training program as men. Upon completing training, a SPARS officer held general-duty assignments, and a small percentage of women worked as parachute riggers, air control tower operators, radio operators, ship’s cooks, and sick bay assistants. 

Established as a temporary solution in a time of war, the SPARS were demobilized on June 30, 1946. Women would again serve in the Coast Guard during the Korean War (1950–1953). Former SPARS officers were not remobilized, but 200 women volunteered for active duty. In 1956 the Coast Guard had only twelve female officers and nine enlisted women. 

In 1973, Congress ended the Women’s Reserve and officially allowed women to serve in the active-duty Coast Guard.

The U.S. Coast Guard SPARS uniforms were intended to be as similar to the men’s uniforms as possible. The service and dress uniform consisted of a wool navy blue jacket and matching skirt. The white Coast Guard shield was worn on the lower right sleeve. Rating badges and rank stripes were worn on the left sleeve (same as uniforms today). A navy blue collared shirt with a blue tie was the reserves indication. Beige hose and black leather heels no more than two inches high were required. A soft brimmed hat with the Coast Guard insignia was worn with no hair visible under the brim and hair not allowed to cover the jacket collar. Even a black leather cross–body purse was an issued uniform article. Summer uniforms were similar but white in color.

The Marines were the last branch of the Armed Forces to accept women during World War II, reluctantly admitting them in February 1943. Commandant Thomas Holcomb adamantly refused any nicknames for the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve saying “They are Marines. They don’t have a nickname and they don’t need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere at a Marine post. They inherit the traditions of Marines. They are Marines.” 

Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter (1895-1990) was transferred from the Navy’s Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES) to become the first Director of the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. Nineteen additional WAVES volunteered to fill the officer positions and begin recruitment.

The strict qualifications for enlistment included U.S. citizenship, being at least five feet tall, at least 95 lbs., having good vision and teeth, being 20 to 35 years old, having two years of high school, and not being married to a Marine or having children under the age of 18. The officer age range was 20 to 49 years old with a college degree. By war’s end, 19,000 women had joined.

There was a mandatory release of all Women’s Reserves by September 1, 1946. Women would not be recruited into the Marines again until after the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948. 

Through the next several decades women Marines served exclusively in administrative roles. In the mid-1970s there was a push for integration into all areas, but it was not until the 2016 Department of Defense regulation requiring all positions be opened to women in all military branches that women were allowed to serve in Marine combat roles. 

Currently, women make up eight percent of the Marine force, the lowest percentage of all the Armed Forces.

The Marine Corps Women’s Reserve uniforms consisted of the Marine forest green winter service uniform, a green and white seersucker summer service uniform, and a white short-sleeved summer dress uniform. Civilian clothing designer Anne A. Lentz had been tasked with helping create the uniforms, and subsequently joined the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve herself. 

Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) formed on August 5, 1943, combining two existing civilian women's pilot organizations working with the Army Air Force during World War II: the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and the Women's Flying Training Detachment (WFTD).

The WAFS and WFTD had fewer than 100 volunteers combined, but the WASP, in just sixteen months of existence, had over 25,000 applicants. Recruits had to be at least five feet two inches tall, between the ages of 21 and 35, have a pilot's license, and at least 500 hours of flight time. The program accepted 1,879 women and 1,074 completed the training. Their success rate was better than the male pilots.

WASPs flew eighty percent of all war-time ferrying missions. In addition, their duties consisted of putting flying time on new engines, towing targets for anti-aircraft gunnery practice, flying searchlight tracking missions, and instructing male pilot cadets. In all, WASP service freed around 900 male pilots for World War II combat duty.

Colonel Bruce Arnold, along with surviving WASP members fought for years to gain recognition and full veterans’ status. Their victory came on Nov 23, 1977 when President Carter signed a bill that included recognition of veterans’ status and allowing WASPs to receive veterans’ benefits. In 2009, President Obama and the U.S. Congress awarded the WASPs the Congressional Gold Medal.

Captain Janice Christensen  (1913–1965)

Janice Christensen was the second of four daughters born to Herman and Nellie Christensen. Growing up in Waukegan, IL she graduated from Waukegan Township High School in 1930 and was employed in various bookkeeping and office jobs. In 1938, Christensen and her father started Christensen Photo Service due to their love of photography and film processing.

After photography, Christensen’s great love was flying. In spring 1942 she took flying lessons at the Waukegan Airport (Burris Field) and became an original member of the Waukegan Civil Air Patrol. In September 1943 she signed up to be a Women’s Air Force Service Pilot (WASP) and became one of the 1,074 graduates to successfully complete the training program. 

After the WASP were disbanded in late 1944, Christensen worked for the U.S. Airway Traffic Control Station in Chicago, weather stations in Ohio, and as a laboratory technician in Oak Forest and Waukegan, IL, and in Kenosha, WI. In 1949 she joined the Air Force Reserve. She received an honorable discharge with the rank of Captain on November 7, 1963. 

In April 1965, Christensen died in a car accident in Kenosha on her way home from work. Twelve years later the WASPs received the veterans’ recognition they so richly deserved.

The first Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) did not have properly sized gear or flight suits, so they made do with menswear. WASP Janice Christensen wrote in a letter dated March 24, 1943, "My coveralls are size 38 and jacket size 40. However, we'll get this worked out later,” and on March 27, 1943, "I had my first ride today...I had a heck of a time with all that gear. Couldn't even turn around in that bulky flying jacket." 

A behind-the-scenes look into the development of the Museum’s “in-house” exhibition Breaking Barriers: Women in the Military.

1st Lt. Sarah Pankonin O’Brien visits the Dunn Museum exhibit with a group of her friends. Sarah discussed her Korean War uniform on display in the exhibit.

Sarah, second from the left.

Ellen Powell and her son James, Captain Janice Christensen’s niece and grandnephew, stopped by to tour the Museum and visit the display featuring Christensen. It was Ellen’s second visit. She wrote to staff in an email, “Again I was moved to tears. I will be sorry to see it move on. But my sister, son, and I are deeply grateful for the attention you have shown my aunt.”