world war II - Jezebel

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Profile In Courage
"Just Because I Was Female, They Wouldn't Let Me Parachute...I Still Feel Cross."
It's Me, Margaret
"So It Has Come."
Period Pieces
Modern Beauty Shop: Winning The War, One Curl At A Time
The 'Comfort' Of Strangers
Pacific Theater
Enfants Terribles: French Children Of German Soldiers Seek Closure
Flags Of Her Fathers

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Highsmith
09/24/09

In reply to Profile In Courage
Mon dieu! Here's another most amazing woman you've never heard of

[www.amazon.com]
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bowleserised
09/02/09

In reply to It's Me, Margaret
My grandparents took in two teenage German-Jewish girls from Berlin, one of whom grew up to be an architect, and whose architect husband designed my grandparents' new house in the 1950s. Shelter for shelter.
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CecilMcCecil
09/01/09

In reply to "Just Because I Was Female, They Wouldn't Let Me Parachute...I Still Feel Cross."
My friend works in a nursing home. One of her favorite patients is Anna, a former "Rosie the Riveter".

Anna told her about the first day on the job at the plant during WW2, someone had ordered all the doors on the women's bathroom stalls removed.

In the meeting with the newly hired ladies, the commander asked if they had any issues, Anna stood up and said, "we would like the doors put back on the restroom stalls"

He said, "why would that bother you"

Without missing a beat, she said, "It is very hard to change your kotex without in a bathroom without a door.

The commander turned all shades of red, and the next day, the doors were put back on.

I love these early feminists.
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kookla
09/01/09

In reply to "Just Because I Was Female, They Wouldn't Let Me Parachute...I Still Feel Cross."
My sister was one of the first paratroopers at Fort Bragg and had a small write up in Newsweek. She was promoted and received a commendation for sneaking into enemy's territory and stealing parts for her company jeep. She retired over a decade ago as a decorated officer.

My family comes from a whole lineage of military people, both male and female, and I'm extremely proud of all of them.
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desertbloom79
09/01/09

In reply to "Just Because I Was Female, They Wouldn't Let Me Parachute...I Still Feel Cross."
Dear Margaret Pawley,
If you are in good health and can lift your legs on your own, it's not too late.
Love,
A proud female parachutist.
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clearsight
09/01/09

@desertbloom79:
In the article, she says she didn't just want to parachute, but parachute behind enemy lines.

I assume there had to have been several female women trained to parachute since there apparently were several female pilots.
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bowleserised
09/02/09

@clearsight: I have a book about the women who did her job here, and also about women spies, and I think they did parachute. Seems to have taken the authorities a while to realise that the gilrs could handle it. They did, however, send them out without some navigational equipment, which made their job insanely hazardous.

Spitfire Women by Giles Whittell.
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Mmmmkay (gellin' and Jezebelin)
09/01/09

In reply to "Just Because I Was Female, They Wouldn't Let Me Parachute...I Still Feel Cross."
This is totally like in 3rd grade P.E. when they said we were going to do "Parachute" and I got SO excited thinking I'd get to jump off the side of the gym, but they really just meant stand in a circle and wave a parachute to make waves. LAME.
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LuvEwan
09/01/09

@Mmmmkay (gellin' and Jezebelin): But--But--sometimes they threw a ball on the parachute, which made it extra super fun!
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meritxell: an erotic life
09/01/09

In reply to It's Me, Margaret
She's quite the looker.

That tag is sooooo Paddington Bear it breaks my heart.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
09/01/09

In reply to "Just Because I Was Female, They Wouldn't Let Me Parachute...I Still Feel Cross."
This article is obviously made up. Because if this were true, why on earth would people still be debating women's (in)ability to serve in the military? That'd be crazy.
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LaFemme
09/01/09

@HeatherNumber1: I don't think anyone really debates womens ability to be in the military...they debate in what capacity they should serve, and if the tradeoffs of allowing them to serve in some roles (most notably those where there is a high chance of capture->gang rape->babies) are worth it to the overall mission.
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rowkitty's kitty
09/01/09

@LaFemme: I don't think its the enemy the women have to worry about. After hearing all the stories about rape and murder in the military I am more worried about hyper aggressive men on our side taking it out on fellow female soldiers.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
09/01/09

@rowkitty's kitty: Yeah, last I read female soldiers are more likely to be assaulted by a fellow soldier than hit by enemy fire.
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Pizza!Pizza!Pizza!
09/01/09

@LaFemme: Sure they do! Just bring up a co-ed draft in mixed company.
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LaFemme
09/01/09

@HeatherNumber1: Really? Pretty much every conversation I have had people will agree on a co-ed draft where everyone has to serve in some capacity, be it care-giving for soldiers, spending time on construction for the war effort, volunteering to help with single family households, learning to guard public places, or being trained to go into combat. The point of contention is usually the "should women be in combat" part, not "should they be involved in the military."
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Cerridwen
09/01/09

In reply to It's Me, Margaret
Has anyone here read Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise? The first book, about the mass exodus out of Paris when the Germans invaded, was one of the most poignant portraits of flawed humanity I have ever read. Nemirovsky writes these characters that are sometimes compassionate, often massively flawed but always utterly human. It is such a shame she was never able to finish that book.
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Plum-Pie
09/01/09

@Cerridwen: I loved the first book but couldn't even start the second, I found it just too sad.
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Yaffle
09/01/09

In reply to It's Me, Margaret
My grandma was evacuated during the war. When I think of how long ago it was, it makes me feel so lucky to be able to talk about it with her still.

By the by: if anyone is looking for book recommendations for older children, "Goodnight Mister Tom" (about a boy evacuated to the countryside) is a good one, in my opinion.
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queenieinmanhattan
09/01/09

@Yaffle: I loved that book, and it was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post!
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gherkinfiend
09/01/09

@Yaffle: Try 'Back Home' also by Michelle Magorian. It is the story of a girl returning to Britain after being evacuated to the US for WW2.

It's one of my favourite books of all time.
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badmutha
09/01/09

In reply to It's Me, Margaret
I find this story wonderful, and it kind of makes me want to cry. Talk about sacrificing for your country.
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MizJenkins
09/01/09

In reply to It's Me, Margaret
Whoa. Hello spontaneous flood of tears.
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badmutha
09/01/09

@MizJenkins: I KNOW!
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Benevolent_Dictatrix (patently absurd)
09/01/09

In reply to It's Me, Margaret
The children were moved to rural areas where they generally discovered portals to magical lands in old armoires or flew around the countryside on a large brass bed before fighting off the Nazis with a platoon of enchanted armor. Don't tell me I don't know history.
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sewradical
09/01/09

In reply to "So It Has Come."
My grandparent's were pen pals during WWII. They never met but there was a "pen friend" program at my grandmother's school. He proposed before they met.

They were 16 and 19 and were together 60 years. They died within months of each other. My grandmother died first, after a long and protracted illness. My grandfather was perfectly healthy and had a heart attack out of the blue. I have all of their letters and they are beautiful -my favorite is the letter he sent when my grandmother's house was bombed. It's so sad but it's when you can first tell how much they loved each other. When I find a guy who can express himself like that...

We found them under my grandfather's bed when he died, along with their wedding album, a pressed flower (from her bouquet, we think) and the first picture she ever sent him.
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EkaterinaBallerina
09/01/09

In reply to "So It Has Come."
My father is one of five children (now four, my aunt died in the late 1970s). When he and his siblings went off to college and started to have lives of their own, my grandfather decided to find a way to keep all of them in touch. So when he retired he bought himself a typewriter and every week wrote a letter detailing the week's events, be it what he and my grandmother had done or what he'd heard from one of his kids. All of us got it and it was our way of staying in touch despite the distance (I grew up in MD, I had an uncle in the foreign service, an uncle in the midwest, another in upstate NY and my grandparents lived in Eastern CT) He started them before all of the grandkids are born and we have several binders full of correspondences from nearly two decades. I used to love reading the ones from around the time I was born.

After he died in 2000, I took the typewriter and my uncle migrated the letters to a website and now a blog. I like reading it when it's updated, but I still this day miss reading those letters and seeing my grandfather's note at the bottom of every one: "Have a great week! Love!!!"
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