Good morning everybody i am jeff urban the education director. On behalf of the library i would like to welcome you to the 16th annual reading festival fdr planned for the library to become the premier Research Institution for setting the entire era. In this years groups. I would encourage you to become a Roosevelt Library member. And if you have not already please make time to see the fdr mighty endeavor. It is dedicated to the special relationship between fdr and churchill leading up. Let me quickly go over the format. You will have as hes been here with us today. In order for us to capture the questions so they can be seen and heard we asked that if you have a question for the author that you please make your way to the microphone and begin the question there. You can purchase your books and have the authors assign them. At the top of the hour the processors pizza itself. It is my pleasure to introduce this sessions author. The author of the girls next door. An officer common nurse in woman the Army Nurse Core in vietnam. She also edited that handbook on gender war in the u. S. Military and his co editor along with Richard Fogarty of the book series studies in more, society in the military. She is co editing a collection of [applause]. Good morning thanks for coming i really appreciate you being here its really an honor to be here at the library is an amazing beautiful place and im really happy to be here. I wanted to say a few words before i get started talking about the book about benjamin smith. I have a position that is named in memory of the former student have a really good time at school. But might not have seen the interior of the classroom as often as he has. He have a really good time. After about a year and half he surprises parents and to right dash mike joined the marine corps. He went to Camp Pendleton and he trained as a scout sniper. His orders were to deploy again. That unit needed someone to go with them that have been there before and despite his reservations about the war on the fact that he did not had orders he went again a second time. On the second two or he was killed in a friendly fire accident. His father created my position in his memory he wanted to come home finish in the history degree. I have the honor of teaching were conflict and society. In the name of a student he does that because he knows the cost of war in society. The wonderful opportunity to really think about the cost of war on talking about three american women and that went to war with the red cross. On talking about three american women and that went to war with the red cross. It is about the ways that they had employed women as entertainment for wartime soldiers and part of that involves world war ii. Lets get started. He grew up in tacoma washington. Born in 1915 just two years before the 90 United States joined the war. She was especially fascinated by the stories of the nurses who had worked on the western front. She and her brother would put on tin soldier hats. And one day one of the cousins pointed out to her and i think he meant it to be helpful and comforting. There is another war you wont have to go because your girl. But betty said im not going to be left behind if there is another war. She always been filled with london wanderlust. She really wanted to go out and see the world. Even the Great Depression cannot start stop her plans. I have no idea what these even our. She won a puzzle contest and she used that money to fund college and so in 1939 she graduated with a degree in psychology from the university of washington in seattle. She did not have a job. It moved faster than it did in tacoma. They were very proud. None of her adventures in california compared to what her life would involve after the United States entered the second world war. She moved back home to tacoma to be near her family. She thought the job was very boring and she have said as soon as she began the quest to get overseas. It was recruiting women. Even though women joined the core. It was the only one that would send women abroad at the time they could not guarantee an assignment overseas. Most women did not serve overseas. They could not guarantee her that. And so she figured even if she did join and did get overseas it would probably be behind a type writer way behind the lines. She kept looking and one day she wrote an article in the local paper about a woman who was working overseas with the red cross. That was her way to go to the war. Over the course of world war ii the red cross spent to betty bring a bit of home. They operated service clubs. American military bases were. In all of these Recreation Centers you combine coffee and donuts. Other women like betty jane. Across all of the theaters. All over the world and of those women. Of normandy. Today the three women i will talk about where three of the women who drove club nobels in the wake of the allied invasion. What in the world are they doing there. Why in the world is the red cross sending women to drive converted trucks in jeeps. Why are they there in the first place. We have to back up to world war i today when someone says their son or daughter has joined the military you think that is a honorable thing. This is the way that you become an adult. Before world war one most americans didnt necessarily think that about military service. Officers were one thing they typically came from the middle and upper classes but enlisted personnel were thought of they were out on the western frontier. They were in texas. They were chasing punch of the app. All sorts were coming back. Of all of the vices most of them thought whatever happens on the military post in fort hood. We will does not think about it. Im just i can worry about it. That was a thought. However. On the eerie eve of world war i. Now all of a sudden thats your son and you may have to deal with all of these things that are popping up around military bases. On top of that the organ or they are gonna send them to france. It was just the land of debauchery. All kinds of bad things were converging in the same moment. Most americans were very skeptical. Draft before have been in the civil war. Neither of went went very well. The public was very anti draft. With the way of convincing them to get behind the draft. Part of that was to say the military Service Services can make your son a man. He is in a come back from his service and be a better contributing member of society and the the key to all of it was women. And so during world war i they sent about 3500 women to france where they opened recreational hubs and canteens. They served refreshments and they danced countless dances. Officials called these home away from home and that is a phrase that gets used in all of the wars throughout the 20th century. They are to distract the men from the vices that are awaiting them. And in this rendition there always alert away. There never actively seeking them out. They are always the victim. They are men when they need them to be men but they are so the solution became sending what Officials Say the right, kind of women. All of the women were to remind them of their mothers and their sisters and their sweethearts all at the same time. He imagined you mention it gets a little complicated. They are to symbolize the support of home front. We are here to help you out. Men must be furnished with healthful amusement where they will turn to the first petticoat they see. What is a petticoat. It doesnt seem very optimistic. We will all be fine. This is the progressive era so everybody was optimistic about everything if there is a problem we can fix it. I will say that its a very serious problem when you add disease to this equation 30 have some sort of disease related to vice. It is a serious problem but this is a very optimistic solution and it doesnt exactly bear out the way that they thought it would. It doesnt have the consequences that the military thought. The boys were still lured away. And they still got into trouble. Nonetheless, when they started mobilizing her for another war couple decades later military officials took it for granted that organizations would continue to provide women. They dont think that were to skin send these girls and none of them are going to get into trouble. They had convinced him that wasnt to happen. None the less they continue to insist that it was essential to the war effort. And part of that involves fdr himself. Instrumental in creating the uso and part of the rationale for the uso was that military men had to have civilian influences. The public in world war ii was very concerned about longterm deployment no one knew how long the deployment was can be. There was a lot of public concern about very long deployment and what kind of effect that would have on men who are away from home and away from women. That was a very real concern for military officials. What are we gonna do with all of these men who have been around only meant for so long. How will they reintegrate into society. The red cross picks up. They established about a thousand clubs. And they created about 319 club nobels. To drive around. With the form of live entertainment. The civilian women who are to go to work are in some ways still echoing that of world war i. An image of something to fight for they are to bolster the sense of manhood but not too much. We will get into that as well. In the air to maintain a sense of normal domestic relationships so that they could reintegrate into society. There is a little bit of optimism the women are still to distract the boys from trouble there is still a bit of the optimism but its a bit more pragmatic. And so betty james the women we began with an adventurous young woman. Almost a desperate desire to serve overseas. She is exactly what the red cross is looking for. She is independent and vibrant. She is very excited very much wanting to do this kind of work. As the organization describe the typical red cross woman was 28 years old. Who spoke some french and played a little piano. Its taught school before the war. I think its actually pretty accurate in terms of what they were looking for. In the practical realworld experiences. The vast majority of them were single you could be married but you could not serve if you have children and they were overwhelmingly white. They purport professed that they were not can segregate their clubs. They absolutely did. And all sorts of ways. If anything was also an ideal candidate because she was attractive but not too attractive. Speemac this would just really kind of it really helps you see what theyre looking for. They wanted young woman who would be able to they have really given up on men representing mama which was mama which was the ideal in world war i. They wanted woman women who would serve as americas sweetheart. The kind of woman that they would be willing to fight for. And it didnt necessarily go only because they were attractive. If you were too attractive some officials thought that was good to be a problem for these women. They didnt want women who were too glamorous they wanted women who were to pretty but not too pretty. One that the organizations took very seriously. With applicants they would a comment on the womans physical appearance and how that might play into her work. Women who could symbolize at the girl next door. All of the attention and that they are surely can a receipt. A couple of women and a time into groups of hundreds of course they are can have lots of eyes on them. They need women who can rate hit with standard. And how they were and to put that in perspective. The women and needed to be able to appeal to the men but also to resist that temptation. Him anyways that was the crux of the whole problem. Serving doughnuts on the surface ask women to do what they have always done in wartime to boost morale and symbolize a supportive home front a semblance of a domestic relationships and then the image is very comfortable with the American Public. Stories of wholesome girls. That their boys were not out gallivanting. And so in many ways they would sit with that conventional notion. Its very much a mom and apple pie kind of image. This is a wholesome image of what american boys do in war and that we want. It fit the contemporary notions of conventional womanhood. At the same time. It takes them far beyond the conventional limitation the daily rigors of the work. And they entered the harsh Living Conditions as they were called upon. And that blatant sexual appeal they also injured terrible personal loss. They pushed that and challenge that in many ways. Life was rough men on base anywhere from england ogallala. But men on the move are too far away from the base camp also needed a brief leave from the war as well. Thats why they established the club mobile program. Also two and half ton military trucks. And still the donut machines and coffee machines on them. They would make them so that the women windows and open up. And on some of the big buses they put monks in the back so that the women who operated these club nobels could stay on the mobility needed. They carried senate graphs and records from home. Newspapers and magazines. And most of the time the women drove the club nobels in them self. And they took great pride in doing so. They have to learn how to drive these tracks. And how to drive them in all kinds of traffic. With the trailers attached. Also had to learn how to take care of them. How to take care of all of that themselves. They practice all of these skills and in an Obstacle Course in england near wimbledon. They would drive these things up steep hills and for the women who drove them like betty jane this was very much a point of pride. They had mastered these skills they symbolized the youthfulness and independence. They realize it was no picnic either even for an accomplished athlete. The daughter of a world war i colonel and she excelled a student at Boston University and then was a member of the first lacrosse team. She joined the red cross. The life was rough. Her typical day getting up at 530 in the morning. And then kick cooking and stacking donuts coming back to post by five. She went to bed with the birds. They thought she did a pretty good job because it appointed her as supervisor of the club mobile group. At loaded them onto ships and then sailed them across the English Channel and unloaded them and they actually drove it up utah beach on july 16 about 5 and half weeks after the allied invasion. It kinda goes from place to place. Making sure everybody have the right supplies coordinate schedules with the military and all of the women entered the conditions of life on the move. They slept in tents they ate field rations. They dug their own latrines. And for women who have been enlisted to serve as reminders of the femininity of american women. Most red cross women worked in clubs. They were what their red cross called the battle dress uniform. And remember how odd it was she wrote that she have never been more dirty, tired and more happy. And so when they have that. They wouldnt of have it any other way. Wearing the uniform all of that symbolize their common experiences with the g. I. They told the family this is the nearest anyone could ever be and still not be a g. I. And of course the women are supposed to not supposed to be g. I. But gretchens experiences tell us that the work demanded far more than they would merely were merely be a pretty face. And even that work was difficult. On dday. She was midway through her training in American University to be a club mobile woman. As they invaded normandy and she graduated her training and failed to england she was a native of Mitchell Walker indiana. And attended the allgirls college in milwaukee she was in english and art major. Got a job for the departments door. They volunteered at uso dances. She said that was not enough for me. She also discovered that the military could not guarantee her and assignment overseas she too joined the red cross. They studied sports so that they could talk to gis about their favorite team. And they learned to break the ice. This can work was very difficult for elizabeth and her colleagues because all of their lives they had been told the good girls dont make the first move. They dont go talk to strange men and they dont ask them to dance they certainly dont flirt with them. It proved pretty difficult for women. It was also difficult to be the mens surrogate seat sweetheart. After the 82nd. Before being sent back to france again. And while there. Ill Elizabeth Learned how difficult it was to work with them and develop these friendships and to be a grief counselor. They were called into help them. And she wrote home that to her parents it was tough to see what, it have done to these men. They were not trade for this work. They were not grief counselors. That was her work. She was a sight for sore eyes. And that was exactly what the red cross have intended. Men did not come to club nobels for coffee and donuts. They came for the women. And elizabeth have the right kind of have about that she was just a victim of circumstances and non flattered is asian. She was a rarity in their world. But no matter how exhausting this attention became. She could never say i just need some time alone. On a good day her work involved men asking her to dance and men wanting to talk to her. All day long. Every single day. She can never say ive have it. Im done with men. You guys go away. No matter how much they try to keep their distance. They developed friendships with the men. And little bit more than friendships she wrote in the letter under happier circumstances and better years she found out however not long before. She was sent to france. They had been missing since the battle of the bulge. And in a reversal of the more common war story leary ended up surviving the work but elizabeth did not. It was against regulations but many of them often hitched rides in planes. And on the morning of july 25. She have a meeting. And it crashed shortly after takeoff. They organized the funeral. And she was initially buried in a military sheet as one of four women buried at the normandy american cemetery. One of 72 women who died in world war ii they may not be the first women we think of when we think of world war ii. Maybe we should think about them more often the Program Continues in korea and vietnam where Single College girls serve coffee and donuts. This is that program and ended after the vietnam war. Those kinds of programs have gone away. I think its not a bad thing that they came to an end i think they situated women in all sorts of complicated and dangerous positions i think we have lost something as well. They all tell us something important when it means to offer a warm smile. They are appreciated and remembered. Think you. I would be happy to answer any of your questions. [applause]. I think they want you to go to the microphones. Simple question. Typically to the close lines. Not all that close. The military was not uncomfortable. The word rule was you couldnt advance further than the brigade headquarters. Its not quite so specific. They are traveling around and around they are never getting close enough where they are immediately in danger the unit for example was following them into bastogne. It got all of the mail on the club mobile. And they evacuated it. Sometimes danger happens. Several u. S. A woman died as well. Retired from the university of pittsburgh. You talked about sexually transmitted diseases in world war i. Things we are doing. And then during world war ii. His job was to make sure that the serviceman paid them in a base that serviced the soldiers. Things really did change. Someone said if he had found out with the shenanigans by world war ii as you said they got condoms per month delivered to them. They are way more pragmatic about it. Another thing we can talk about later. The women who participated one is deceased you talk about when they came home home meaning the United States in this case. Did they talk about it. Did they get anywhere newman duration they were paid they got about 150 per month the red cross carried at that mandatory Life Insurance policy for people who go to war. They were paid as well. But when they came home they were not veterans. And then american women who were in the military were not veterans in the full sense either. I think there is a public recognition. For most of them they just got go back to normal life. In trying to find the womens accounts of their life their diaries or letters they all end with the war. They go home and they go back to normal life. And they are not continuing to keep that record of their life. It has been really frustrating to me that a lot of them are lost at the end of the war especially women who change their names when they get married. It is hard to find them i do know that betty jane that i started with ended up getting a phd in philosophy from john hopkins a lot of the women went on and did really incredible things. For most of them they kind of blend it back into American Society and go back with their lives. They think back on it. They even talk about some of them this is what paved the way later. They were doing these and credible things. And to get thinking about the womens fine core. They gave up everything because they wanted to fly. And they got so little out of it if they died they got nothing to bury them. The family had to pay to bring them back. So many of them died and they were treated terrible. In terms of women and their service. They have always wanted to serve and they have done so even without recognition but that this is the time in which the American Public is really trying to wrap their heads around what it means have women in uniform. You can be but kind that typewriter. There were baby steps. Thank you very much. To what extent where the women subjected to Sexual Violence and did they treat it criminally. That has also been something that has been very frustrating for me in terms of research. If you think about in 1940s. They dont even have Sexual Harassment in the lingo. In looking for what Everybody Knows it must have happened military millions. Of course the things happen. Its been really difficult to find examples of women who openly talk about it. Its easier to find a woman who said i heard that this happened were to write home to her parents and say you might hear that awful things happens but they might not happen here. Its also interesting that they do talk about what we would consider harassment and very direct ways at time. One of them wrote into her letter home to her parents about being asked about port commander go on this little ship. In the letter home shes like we have cucumber sandwiches they were very good but we all ate them. And in her diary i didnt actually tell him what he was doing because i did not want them to worry. Hes a little too handy. Hes getting a little too close for comfort. That example has been great for me as a historian to look at the different ways that they explain their work. You might not say the same thing. Yes it happened. There are cases one woman was actually punched in the face by a captain. They said it wasnt the right time. Pointing to a document thats hard. But we can just can get at it in other ways. Good morning and thank you very much. My question is really about research on the other end from the soldiers. Where they able to find any letters about the impact these women have on them while they were in the service. It is a break from the war. Higher ranking officials. Generals. I didnt think you have any business in the war zone. I see you can have a good effect. You see men who talk about these had no business being here. They dont think good girls should be and more. Some of them are very explicit. It is just across the board. That is the response. Threemac i think you said it but i missed it. When did the red cross stop serving. I was a medic and we still have them in germany. But we also got condoms and cigarettes. Does anybody want the last word. Book tv