Army·Integration / civil rights·In Memoriam
Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators
Hello Girls
Served: 1918–1919
223 bilingual women sworn into the Army Signal Corps in 1917–1918 to operate switchboards on the Western Front, after Pershing told Washington his commanders couldn't talk to each other through male operators who didn't speak French.
The Story
They took the same wireless licensing exams as male operators, wore Army uniforms with Signal Corps brass, served under military discipline — and got home to be told their service didn't count. Eighteen of them died before the 1977 recognition came through.
Epitaph
“Wore the uniform. Took the oath. Six decades to be told it counted.”
Sources
- Wikipedia — Hello Girlsen.wikipedia.org
- Smithsonian — Women on the Frontlines of WWIwww.smithsonianmag.com