Given the long hiatus since I blogged (or vlogged), I thought a good starting point to rejuvenate this space would be to revisit how I learned about the Red Cross Girls, who they are, and why I chose to feature them as heroines in my WW2 novels. I have always been drawn to WWII novels, and shortly after I attended a writing conference, I decided to write a historical romance set during the WWII years. I read Emily Yellin’s excellent book Our Mother’s War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II, which describes the many roles that women played beyond the iconic defense plant work of Rosie the Riveter. I discovered that the Red Cross deployed thousands of women overseas (all over the world, not just Europe) and that the work of these women often took them closer to the front lines than even combat nurses. These women were also ahead of their time on so many levels in that they all had a college degree, some career experience, and possessed a mix of intangible attributes such as charisma, resilience, and resourcefulness. Further, the contributions of these daring and courageous women had largely been lost to history, and I knew I wanted to tell their stories. During WWII, the American Red Cross operated 2,000 clubs and hundreds of Clubmobiles, staffed by 39,000 paid staffers and over 7.5 million volunteers. The Clubmobiles were vehicles driven directly to soldiers in the field. Thousands of the paid Red Cross staffers were the women known as “Red Cross Girls” who served overseas alongside American troops. They were stationed in every theater of the war, providing cheer and comfort to the troops in every far-flung corner of the globe. The Red Cross Girls often served closer to the front lines than even the combat nurses. In a history of the Red Cross work during WWII titled “At His Side,” author George Korson notes: “These Red Cross Clubmobile girls had one of the most extraordinary experiences of the war, performing an unprecedented service with enthusiasm and a contempt for personal danger that had the whole Army tossing its helmets into the air. They had a ringside seat at one of the greatest dramas of all time, moving with more freedom than many soldiers. Even war correspondents could not drive in and out of the battle lines as they did every day. In and out of the rain and mud they moved with the headlines, from hedgerow to plain, from orchard to orchard, amid bomb craters, shell holes, and crumbled towns. To the boom of artillery and the whistle of shells, they took their freshly made doughnuts and steaming coffee right to the GIs on highways, in hospitals, rest areas, gun sites, and even to the edge of foxholes.” The Red Cross Girls were self-starters who could draw on a range of varied life experiences to do this important work on an unprecedented scale. They were trailblazers in more than one sense. If they had a college degree and some professional experience (in any field), they might secure an interview. But only 1 in 6 applicants was ultimately successful – not only because so many women were clamoring to be considered for these coveted positions but also because the Red Cross had exacting – and subjective -- standards. Most of the women possessed, on some level, a combination of poise, charm, conversational skills, self-assurance, independence, ingenuity, resourcefulness, adaptability, stamina, and creativity. They were also women who could walk a thin line – the Red Cross recruiters knew they needed women who could hold their own in a male-dominated environment, women who could sing bawdy songs, laugh at dirty jokes and deflect sexual advances with good grace, all while projecting that All-American “girl next door” image. One intangible element that likely played a large role in the hiring process was a perception of the woman’s stamina and motivations. Successful Red Cross Girls were motivated by a strong sense of duty and patriotism and understood they weren’t in this wholly for adventure or a fun time. Red Cross Girls were in it “for the duration” (while they could request a transfer back to the US after completing 2 years of overseas service, most of them remained overseas despite the drain on their physical and emotional well-being). Just as the servicemen, these women faced so many unknowns. In the words of my Courage to be Counted heroine Vivian: “Destination unknown. Duration unknown. Dangers unknown.” They didn’t have a crystal ball to know the war would end in August 1945. I’ve often wondered, in my years of researching and writing about the Red Cross Girls, how daunting it must have been to leave behind your family and friends, everything that was familiar, knowing it would be some uncertain number of years before you might return. And when they did return, most of them were forever changed. Marked by years of emotionally draining and physically grueling service, marked by all they had seen and experienced, all they could never forget. I’ll expand on that theme in another blog because there’s much to say about this topic. In sum, the Red Cross Girls were extraordinary women who stepped up in a time of enormous uncertainty and danger, serving with grace, courage, and resilience.
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AuthorI'm the author of historical romances set during WWII. Archives
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