Women enlist in WAVEs from Cedar Rapids during WWII
In May 1942 the first call for women to join the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps drew 35,000 applicants for 1,000 spots. Rose Rygr Kopecky of Cedar Rapids joined in August 1942, training at Fort Des Moines, traveling to Fort Bragg, and serving as assistant to the director of personnel before discharge in November 1945 and later work at the Pentagon.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps
Pearl Harbor
Bataan
Fort Des Moines
Cedar Rapids
Miriam Stehlik Drahos
Dwight Eisenhower
Africa
Kopecky
Drake University
Fort Bragg
N.C
Pentagon
Iowa
Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
WAAC
United States
WAVES
Navy
Iowa State Teachers College
Cedar Falls
SPARS
U.S. Coast Guard
WASPS
U.S. Women's Air Force Service
U.S
WAAC WAVES and WASP training in Iowa during WWII era
The text covers 1942 training sites for WAACs in Fort Des Moines and WAVES in Cedar Falls with SPARS and WASPS also training there. It notes eligibility rules, service numbers totals for WAC WAVES SPARS and WASPS, and mentions veterans Kopecky and Reichart recalling postwar duties in Frankfurt and overseas postings to Dutch New Guinea and Manila.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Iowa State Health Department
Des Moines
Colorado Springs
Colo
Radio Training School
Tucson
Ariz
Reichart
Dutch New Guinea
Manila
Cedar Rapids man recalls 4-F misstep and Flying Tigers service
Cedar Rapids native William Farr was deemed 4-F in 1940 and told to return to Quaker Oats. After the U S entered World War II he joined the Army Air Corps, served four years in the Flying Tigers Intelligence unit, and returned home in 1946.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cedar Rapids
William Farr
Quaker
United States
Farr
Army Air Corps
The
Flying Tigers
World at War May 1942 Overview
A compact May 1942 World War II capsule from History Place summarizes global combat, political shifts, and wartime conditions as nations mobilize, leaders coordinate efforts, and civilians endure prolonged conflict during the midwar period.
Local draft boards guided 1940s U.S. mobilization in Iowa
The article recalls how volunteer draft boards operated under the Selective Service Act, processing registrants and granting deferments. It highlights Iowa's 170000 expected registrants, community involvement by civic groups, send-offs for inductees, and personal stories of enlistees like Ed Hanna and Betty Studer.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sher
Iowa
Cedar Rapids
Linn County
Frank K. Hahn
Selective Service
Charles H. Grahl
Rotary
Kiwanis
Lions Club
the Gazette
Milwaukee
Fort Leavenworth
Kaw
U.S.A
Ed Hanna
Sioux City
Hanna
Army Field Artillery
Betty Studer
Monticello
Army Air Corps
Draft Board
Wilma Shadle
Walter Shadle
Carpenters Union
Also Mentioned on This Page
Sher Jaspers
Charles Kosek
Rose Kopecky
Waacs
Memorial Coliseum
U.S. Treasury
Henry Morgenthau Jr
Bourke B. Hickenlooper
Edgar Wellington Harberts
Buchanan County
Mental Health Institute
Mary Reed
Rowley
Selo
Army
Frankfurt
Helen Reichart
Iowa City
University of Iowa
WAC
WACS
Navy Nurse Corps
Willia
Bank
Third Avenue
Third Street
Victor
Historyplace.com
Japan
Coral Sea
New Guinea
Beene Sac Cme
Coe College
Army Reserve Officers Training Corps
Coe
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