The Willamina times., July 13, 1944, Image 4

T H U R S D A Y . J U L Y 13. 1944
T IM E S . W IL L A M IN A . O R E G O N
Don't Worry About Your WAC Oversea; She's Healthier
And Happier Than When at Home, Says Medical Officer
By GERTRUDE BACHMAN
V sm * .
WASHINGTON. D C —If your
daughter, sister or wife is a
WAC and stationed in the Medi­
terran ean area, you are prob­
ably worrying a lot more about
her than she is about herself.
Maj. M argaret Janew av. Medi­
cal corps. U. S. arm y, gives a
report that should put to route
all unnecessary fears.
“ They are never s ic k ,” M a jo r
Janeway told a press conference in
W ashington. “ The F ifth a rm y WACs
have had an am azing health record
from the beginning.”
Of 1.80C women s o ld e rs who
landed in N orth A fric a since Janu­
a ry. 1943. only 12 have been sent
home fo r m edical reasons. D r.
Janeway believes th a t th is record
m ay prove ore th in g —th a t the m ore
p rim itiv e tne circum stances, the
better a wom an th rive s.
“ They take hardships in a s p irit
o f fun.” M a jo r Janeway said.
When the firs t contingent went
over ir. Ja nu ary. 1343. it found c ir ­
cum stances
d e fin ite ly
p rim itiv e .
The tr ip o-.er w a m ’t e xactly a sum-
m er cru_se—espe cia lly since m ost
of the women hadn’t ever been to
sea before. They landed at Oran on
January 13, and took a tra in for
A lg ie rs. They discovered th e ir q ua r­
te rs to be an old F rench convent
w ith no heat and no w ater. They
used th e ir helm ets fo r c a rry in g
w a te r fro m an old w e ll m the c o u rt­
ya rd and fo r wash basms. I t was
b itte rly cold. M a jo r Janew ay sa id :
" I t w as M ay before we thawed
out. and it was M ay before we couid
get an occasional good n ig ht's
sleep.”
The women slept 12 in a room on
straw m attresses placed on double-
decker bunks, wore ah th e ir woolen
clothes and wrapped them selves m
three blankets when they w ent to
bed. Those on the n ig h t s h ift were
envied because they slept durin g th e
daytim e when there were no a ir
raids.
On Doty 12 Honrs D a ily .
A quiz with answers offering
information on various subjects
I
7. W hat b ird IS m entioned m ost
fre q u e n tly in the B ib le *
The Aniu>»n
1. O ne-third
A p etty fa u lt
M arch 4. 1933
The Green M ountain boys.
C e n trifu g a l force.
Both
w ere
a d m itted
to
the
Union on the same day, N o ve m ­
ber 2. IMS
7. The dove is the m ost fre -
lu e n tly m entioned b ird in the
'lib le .
JUST WHAT HE WANTS! \
S T R O L L IN G DOW N the roadway to the entrance of the old French
convent which is th e ir b arracks iu N orth A frica are these i r e WACs
who are assigned to the headquarters offices of .Allied force headquarters.
They are. left to righ t. M a ry C. Woods. E v e re tt. M ass.; E llen Coadoe.
Missoula. M ont.; M a ry Livingston. C hattanooga, Tenn .; L o n lie Jam es,
Sioux C ity. Io w a ; and E lizabeth P age. Escanaba. M ich. A nun is passing
in the background.
returned to the States. The reason
given was “ excessive nervousness."
The three women were aged 30. 35
and 40 respectively, and had back­
grounds o f nervous in s ta b ility . W hat
had been a p ote n tia l in a b ility to ad­
ju s t a t home under secure routine
now became com plete m a la d ju s t­
m ent. M a jo r Janeway said they
ju s t "c o u ld n 't take it . ”
No d ie t deficiencies were discov­
ered. A rm y food w as m ore than ade­
quate. and in addition, the WACs
were the frie n d ly concern o f a rm y
and navy m en. They received
oranges, eggs th a t cost 52 a dozen,
and a general supply of “ nice spoil­
in g .” The navy men— who vied w ith
the tra d itio n of th e ir m arine broth­
ers fo r having th is situation w e ll in
hand— even obtained p illo w s fo r the
WAC bunks.
“ E v e ry tim e a g ir l got a le tte r
from hom e,” M a jo r Jar.ew ay sa.d,
“ M am a wanted to know if she was
getting her v ita m in s . She was. but
sue d id n 't know it. F o rtu n a te ly ,
th e ir folks sta rted sending them
v ita m in p ills and th a t settled the
P V T . M A R IO N D e C R A Y at M il­ problem fo r us. They ate th e ir p ills
waukee. Wis.. brings an arm load of and fe lt b e tte r.”
hom em ade bread into the messhall.
E x c e lle n t food is credited to a large
extent for the splendid health rec­
ord of the WACs overseas.
The Quettiont
1 A p p ro x im a te ly how m uch o f
the to ta l land acreage of the U n it­
ed States is covered w ith forests*
2. W h a t ts a p e c c a d illo ?
3. When was F D R firs t tnaugu
ra te d *
4 W ith w hat group ot men is the
nam e Ethan A lle n associated*
3. W’h a t p hysical force throw s
people off revo lvin g tu rn ta b le s at
am usem ent p a rk s '
6 W hat state. N orth or South
D akota, was a d m itte d to the U nio r
first?
Major Jane way Tells
About 14 Months \\ ith
N. African Contingent
Itrteucd ft? Wes»re X e sifjpe f
ASK ME ?
ANOTHER!
Too Much San T an.
The power o f the N o rth A fric a n
sun was an unknown q u a n tity to the
WACs. Anxious to get a smooth tan,
thejr discovered, to th e ir dism ay,
th a t it could ve ry e asily be o ve r­
done. A fte r a few p a in fu l bum s.
L E T T E R S F R O M home are the
best m orale boosters. Sgt. Betty
Jane O L e a ry of P itt/b u rg h , P a.,
voonds the welcom e “ m a il e a ll.”
Such w ere the conditions of th e ir which kept the v ic tim s away from
em ploym ent. The wages of WAC work, m b a n was classified “ not
p riva te s are the same as those of line o f d u ty .” T h a t m eant th a t any
G. I Joes—>50 a m onth pins 10 per WAC who was not sensible enough
cent of the base pay fo r overseas to get her sun g ra d u a lly , would
duty. The hours were 12 a day, have her pay docked fo r ar.y tim e
seven days a week. Since curfew she was off w ork. They soon learned
was a t 7 p. m ., and the A lg erian , how to do it g ra d u a lly .
shops w ere closed at th a t tim e ,
By N ovem ber, th re e m ore WAC
there -'.as no point in tim e off.
companies had reported fo r d uty in
D u rin g this whole period, despite A ig.ers. In Decem ber, one com pany
hardships — o r w h a t m ost of us fresh fro m the States w ent d ire c t­
would consider hardships — there ly to Ita ly .
were no serious illnesses and very
The healthiest women in the
little jitte rs , M a jo r Janew ay said. whole M ed iterranean area. M a jo r
A three-bed dispensary had been set Janeway found, w ere the F ifth a rm y
up in w ha t was described as "a WACs liv in g in tents ve ry close be­
large closet” in the convent. This hind the fig htin g lines in Ita ly . They
was used only as an isolation w ard were p a rt of a com m unications
fo r those w ith colds— and as a platoon based at Napies and h a lf
room fo r an occasional rest of 24 up tow ard the fro n t, liv in g in tents,
hours fo r the ve ry w eary M ajor w o rkin g the com m and post rr.es-
Janeway said th a t a fte r such tre a t­ I sage center. They were w ith the
m ent m ost of them were ready to j F ifth a rm y ir. N o rth A fric a and fo l­
go back to th e ir jobs. Despite all lowed when A m e rican troops took
tne d ire warnings, not one WAC con­ Naples.
M a jo r Janew ay said th a t the
tra c te d any of the diseases they had
been to ld ve ry ca re fu lly to guard WACs a t the fro n t and those in
against.
N o rth A fric a , fo r th a t m a tte r, are
When m ore WACs a i rive d in A l­ so h ealthy because they do not have
giers in M a y, the e n tire WAC colony tim e to spend in “ friv o lo u s a c tiv i­
took o ve r an a p a rtm e n t house which tie s.”
There is no special tra in in g for
provided
m ore
co m fo rts,
and
m uch m ore w a rm th . The num ber of keeping the WACs in tr im . In w in ­
beds in the dispensary was in ­ te r they don’t have m uch oppor­
tu n ity fo r exercise, but in sum m er
creased to 11.
Of the 68 women who came w ith they sw im . In N o rth A fric a , a pro­
th is contingent, o nly three had to be gra m has been set up w hich pro-
' sides each w om an, a fte r so long a
tim e , a four-day rest period. A rest
cam p has been estab.ished 20 m ile s
up the coast fro m A lgiers. I t was
opened firs t fo r those e a rlie st WACs
who were beginning to look a little
fa tigued a fte r th e ir 12-hours-a-day.
seven-da ys-a-week g rin d w ith no
passes fro m Ja n u a ry to June.
No s im ila r a rran ge m en t has been
made in Ita ly as ye t, but M a .o r
Janeway believes th a t one soon w ill
be.
j
O n ly S ix M a r r i a g e s .
In 14 m onths, th ere have o nly
been six m arria g e s of WACs m the
M editerranean area It is possible
¡ th a t a three-m onth w a itin g period
—known as the “ cooling-off” period
—a fte r announcing m arria g e inten ­
tions to the com m anding o ffice r is
the reason. T his is an a rm y reg ula ­
tion and applies to both men and
, women.
In reg ard to the unhappy stories
th a t have been c irc u la tin g about the
m o ra ls of the WACs. D r Janew ay
cited
m edical
sta tistics
w hich
showed d e fin ite ly Liese ru m o rs to be
figm ents o f somebody's im a gin atio n.
The women were hom esick at
tim es, but “ not too b a d ly ," M a jo r
Janew ay said Sos weeks a fte r the
j firs t group a rriv e d in A lg ie rs, how­
Í ever. there was co m a il fro m home,
i w hich resulted in m any a te a rfu l
night. B ut the re g u la r a r r iv a l of
Í m a il a fte r th a t, and the s tr ic t
regim en took car, of hom esickness
p re tty thoroughly.
There have been no battle casual­
tie s am ong the WACs. One wom an
was in ju re d , and one k ille d in a
jeep accident. There was plenty of
bom bing, but the bombs fe ll “ ju s t
across the stree t” fro m the A lg ie rs
barracks. The bombs would h it the
same spot n ig h t a fte r night. D u rin g
the day the damage would be re­
paired, and th a t n ig ht it would be
undone. Yet none of the WACs was
h it.
A piece of shrapnel h it the bed
in which a WAC was sleeping, but
she was unharm ed. There was some
dispute between her and the occu­
pant o f the next bunk as to w hom
the piece o f shrapnel belonged.
M a jo r Janeway said th a t the jobs
w hich the WACs p e rfo rm , and about
w hich "th e y are v e ry keen” are
those o f stenographers, telephone
' operators, d riv e rs , cooks, and a ll
kinds o f com m unications jobs.
Asked if tne WACs overseas feel
j
th a t g irls a t home are lacka da isica l
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OS PHOTO
A WAC in N orth A fric a hangs up
some personal laundry in the back
yard of the convent which serves as
a b arracks, giving a hom elike touch
to the g rim business ot w a r.
about not jo in in g up M a jo r Jane­
w ay re p lie d ; "T h e y c e rta in ly d o !”
She continued;
“ I t takes a level-headed and ve ry
well-balanced wom an to stand up
against th a t pressure and m a in ta in
her own good sense. I t takes a level­
headed woman to fe?ep rested and
to m a in ta in her sense o f h u m o r.”
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