Photos of WWII Army WACS
The bill authorizing the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was enacted on 14 May 1942. Women began entering OCS and basic training at the First WAAC Training Center, Fort Des Moines, Iowa, in July 1942. The WAAC went out of existence on 31 August 1943 and was succeeded immediately by the Women's Army Corps (WAC) - which Congress made a bona fide part of the Army of the United States for the duration of the war plus six months. Unlike their counterparts in the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Corps, WACs could be stationed anywhere, including behind the lines in the battlefield.
 WAACs at work in WAAC Headquarters. Left to right: Lts. Harriet West and Irma Cayton, going over their recruiting schedule report. |
 WAAC cooks prepare dinner for the first time in new kitchen at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 12/05/1942. |
 WAAC officers go shopping for items for their recreation hall soon after their arrival at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 1942. |
 WAAC Capt. Charity Adams of Columbia, NC, who was commissioned from the first officer candidate class, and the first of her group to receive a commission, drills her company on the drill ground at the first WAAC Training Center, Fort Des Moines, Iowa. |
 Marching to the music of a WAAC band, barely visible behind them, a compny of WAACS passes in review before President Roosevelt during his visit to the Third WACC Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe, GA. |
 An African-American WAAC (Mrs. Mary K. Adair) takes an examination for Officers Candidate School, Fort McPherson, Georgia, 06/20/1942. |
 A company of African-American WAACs lined up for review by the Hon. Lester A. Walton, U.S. Minister to Liberia, during WWII. |
 WAC Cpl. Alma Bradley operates the switchboard at the "Little White House," the residence of President Harry S. Truman during the Potsdam Conference in Germany, 07/13/1945. |
 S/Sgt. Mary Haluey of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is watching the parade of delegates entering the Potsdam Conference at Cecilienhof Palace from the porch in front of the WAC billot in the area, 07/16/1945. |
 WAC telephone operators Cpl. Alma Bradley and Cpl. Eleanor Moynihan leaving the "Little White House," residence of President Harry S. Truman during the Potsdam Conference, 07/16/1945. |
 PFC Isabella Hardacre, Chicago, Illinois, a WAC telephone operator in U. S. headquarters at the Potsdam Conference in Germany disposes of hundreds of inquiries a day on the information phones of the headquarters switchboard, 07/15/1945. |
 WAC telephone operators operate the Victory switchboard during the Potsdam Conference in their headquarters in Babelsburg, Germany, 07/15/1945. |
 S. Sgt. Edith Royer, chief operator of the Victory switchboard at U. S. headquarters in Babelsburg, Germany during the Potsdam Conference, 07/15/1945. |
 PFC Gladys Bellon, Basile, Louisiana, one of the 27 WAC switchboard operators flown from Paris for the Potsdam Conference and Sgt. Robert Scott of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, test lines in the frame room of the Victory switchboard at U. S. headquarters at Babelsburg, Germany, 07/15/1945. |
 Tech. Sgt. Tommye Berry, Acting 1st Sgt. of the African-American WAC group, 04/16/1945. |