 dedicated to the strength of the nation. Hardly we hail that you're in a special program honoring the seventh anniversary of the Women's Army Corps, the United States Army and United States Air Force presentation. And now here is our producer, the well-known Hollywood showman, C.P. McGregor. Thank you, thank you. Greetings from Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to your Theatre of Stars, where all the great names of the motion picture world and your own favorites come to join us in plays we know you'll enjoy. Our star is lovely Mary Aster, and the title of our play is a special program honoring the seventh anniversary of the Women's Army Corps. We'll have our curtain for act one in a moment. But first, here is our announcer, Wendell Niles, with this message of importance. Only the best can be aviation cadets. And all because your United States Air Force is planning for the future and wants the best young men, special consideration is being given to this year's college graduates who want careers as leaders in aviation, as officers in your United States Air Force. If you're graduating this June, apply now for aviation cadet training. As a college graduate, your application will be rushed so that you can begin training as soon as you graduate. Visit your U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force recruiting station today to make certain you're accepted for one of this summer's aviation cadet classes. Remember, only the best can be aviation cadets. And now once again, our producer. The curtain rises on the first act of our special program commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Women's Army Corps and starring as narrator Miss Mary Aster. Seven years ago, on May the 14th, 1942, the Women's Army Corps came into being. It was called the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps then and became a part of the United States Army on July 1, 1943 when public law 110 received the presidential signature. Proudly we hail the Women's Army Corps on its seventh birthday. To you, the distinguished and illustrious alumnae of the Corps, to you who now wear a whack uniform and to you who desire to take an active part in the traditions of the Women's Army Corps, this program is dedicated. This is the story of G.I. Joe, Joanne. I guess that's as good a name as any. During the war, she was defined in any of several ways. G.I. Jane, whack. Yes, in his time war on, they even labeled her what a godsend. But I'm getting ahead of my story. A story that begins at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, one of the five whack training centers in 1943. This woman who arrived on the Chattanooga Choo Choo and started bathing in that Georgia sunshine, well, she wasn't exactly one in a million, but almost. Approximately one out of every 300 women who could have actually volunteered for duty with the armed services. She was pretty courageous, wouldn't you say? This slip of a girl who answered the call of her country in its most critical hour was met at the station by the motor transport, taken to the camp to begin training. Well, you got everything. Oh, here's your shoe. Thank you. Two and a half feet. Is that the right size? Just right. Say, your foot is tiny. When you get through drilling, you'll wish you had cloudhoppers like mine. Oh, your feet aren't so big. You're looking at them from a distance. Well, maybe so. Don't you dare agree with me. All right. Here are your stockings. These are the jewels we call them. Thank you. I was only joking about the drilling. It's really great for the figure. Now, don't you say what figure. She drilled, this woman we're talking about, under the huge pines there at Oglethorpe. She had her uniform fitted by a civilian dressmaker. She ate Army chow. She met a friend in wet sightseeing. So this is where they fought the battle of Chickamauga. That's right, honey. Say. You're quite a tourist at heart, aren't you? I guess I am. I had a hunch you were from the day I first issued you your clothing. Yes? Yeah. Where are you from? Rocky Ford, Colorado. Is there actually such a place? Surely you've heard of Rocky Ford? On Highway 50? Population 1940 census 3494 produces the finest in cantaloupes and valentia onions. Honey, I'm from New York, and I just never did get around much. Well, that explains it. That's where this woman came from. Everywhere, USA. And those training days at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, at Fort Oglethorpe and the others, they prepared her for the test to come. For there were some who refused to believe this woman we speak of was 24 karat that she belonged. The reports had come through in the states. Wax okay, doing a great job. But what about overseas? Algiers 1943. Excuse me, sir. Oh, yes, you're our new whack. Yes, sir. So we have women in the Army now, huh? Even in Algiers, sir. That seems to be quite evident. Well, we'll have to find a place for you. Do you take shorthand? Yes, sir. And I speak French quite fluently. You do? Well, we've been in quite a spot on our telephone switchboards. Maybe you can help us out. The difficult job of translating the languages while simultaneously running a telephone switchboard was only one of the jobs accomplished by the Women's Army Corps in North Africa. Secretaries, postal clerks, code clerks, photo lab assistants, whatever had to be done, you could usually depend on them to volunteer. Yes, that same officer who gave our girlfriend a pretty cool reception changed his tune a little later on in a report. There is one serious difficulty concerning the Women's Army Corps in North Africa. Not enough of them. Well, things weren't going too badly with this woman we're speaking of. Is somebody's kid's sister or sweetheart? In the States, they had said, OK, North Africa said, send us more like her. So she began moving out to all the theaters of war, to Bermuda, Hawaii, Alaska, Egypt, and to England. Hey there! I know you! Are you sure? It's a kid from Colorado herself. Now, what was the name of that? I'm a troublemaker. Rocky Fordon. Don't you forget it. What are you doing in London? I just got here. You just got here from where? Algiers. How you Rocky Ford kids get around? I had to work, slave, cross my fingers, grab a rabbit's foot, and kiss a horseshoe to get to London. All that? Sure. Where are you stationed? Oh, I don't know. Let me see your orders. Yeah. Uh-huh. Honey, you're stationed with me. That makes you the luckiest woman. What was that? You heard of that robot bomb? Yes. That will possibly be part of your routine here. Plotting the courses of robot bombs. You call it routine? That's what they put her to doing in England. That and deciphering codes, and making maps, and interpreting combat film, and plotting the missions of Allied and hostile aircraft. There were many other jobs she did as somebody's kid sister or sweetheart, and she sweated out the long, arduous hours, complaining often or little as any human being will do. She brightened up a dull billet with flowers, a bit of ribbon, a picture. She ate or refused her Brussels sprouts in silence. And when she was moved outside of London, she perhaps had an opportunity to see Canterbury, or Oxford, or Stratford-on-Evan. Kind of spooky, isn't it? Spooky? Standing here, the room where Shakespeare was born. Look over here. What? On the wall, all these signatures. Look, here's Charles Dickens' signature and Walter Scott's. Well, I must say you know your way around here. Oh, I've been here before. Well, come on. You kids from the country are awed by all these things. We New Yorkers take them as a matter of fact. Oh, is that so? Sure. Come on, now. I'll let you talk me into coming down here. You don't suppose I'm going to stay all week. All right. Ah, the sun's bright today. Oh, it's a lovely day where it's going to be. Let's walk down by that old gentleman there. Must be the caretaker. You think he buried Shakespeare? I don't know. Afternoon to you. Good afternoon. Hello, Grandpa. Enjoying yourselves here? Getting a look around, I hope. Oh, yes. Indeed we are, sir. Huh? You'd be Americans. Where from? New York. Ah, yes. Heard of the place. And you, Mother? Uh, I'm from Rockyford. Oh, no. Not Rockyford, Colorado. Don't tell me you heard of that milk-stop. Heard of it? So help me know lesser personalities than the Prime Minister himself. Open told me he never valued nothing more than a case of Rockyford melons. You see? Well, I'll be darned. He also says, with conviction, says he, in all the states and cities he visited over there, it is this tiny place it is the Emerald of the West, a blooming spotter heaven on earth. Well, Mabel, you see my hometown is internationally famous. Beats me. Hey, there's a ride back! Come on, let's go! Well, Miss, did I play me role to your satisfaction? You played it perfectly, perfectly. Tell her in a day or so and have another laugh. And this woman we speak of continued to play her role, a role of increasing importance, as members of the Women's Army Corps began to be heard from more distant horizons and far-flung APOs. China, India, British Columbia, Yukon Territory, Scotland and France, Leite, Luzon, New Guinea, Japan and Korea, nearly one out of every five wax served overseas and the other four complained because they were not chosen to go, but rather had to endure the luxuries of the home front. She had done all right, this kid sister of somebody, as victory turned from something hoped for to a tangible reality. And they praised her, starting with the generals. But perhaps the highest praise came like this. Here's your report, sir. Oh, thanks. Thanks. How'd you get this out tonight? Since VJ Day, nothing but excitement. I know. You tired? Little. You ought to be. Sorry to make you work like this. But I'll tell you something, it's any solace to you. What's that, sir? It's people like you who are contributing so much in our efforts to secure the peace. Thank you, sir. In the spring of 1946, with demobilization nearly completed, you could have heard this sound. The sound of the woman we speak of today made when she walked out of Fort Des Moines, Iowa. The last of the 72,141 wax train bear. Past the empty barracks she walked. Her footsteps made a hollow sound. And in that hollow sound echoed and re-echoed the splendid record of the 6,800 officers and 93,000 enlisted women of the Women's Army Corps, who served in 400 insulations in this country and in every theater of operations overseas. It was a sad, low sound. For as she walked out of Fort Des Moines that spring day in 1946, the Women's Army Corps, to all intents and purpose, walked with her. For all enlistment had been suspended. But it couldn't stop there. And a spree had been established. A magnificent record had been compiled. The story of this woman in uniform couldn't end there. It couldn't. It was briefly from our special program honoring the 7th anniversary of the Women's Army Corps, starring Mary Astor as narrator, to bring you an important message from our government. Ladies and gentlemen, our Army and our Air Force are critically short of physicians and dentists. Over 2,000 volunteers from these two professions urgently needed today to safeguard and care for the health of the men and women who as members of the United States Army and United States Air Force are serving you and me at home and overseas. Young physicians and dentists, particularly those who did not serve in the armed services during World War II, have been asked by their government to act now to volunteer for a duty at once. If you are one of these young physicians or dentists, please write or wire either the Surgeon General of the United States Army or the Air Surgeon of the United States Air Force at once and volunteer your services. If you know one of these young physicians or dentists, please call his attention to this urgent message. Thank you. And now the curtain rises on act two of our special commemorative program honoring the 7th anniversary of the Women's Army Corps and starring the role of narrator, Miss Mary Astor. A memorable moment in the annals of the Women's Army Corps was that moment on June 12, 1948, when President Truman signed Public Law 625, thus establishing the Corps as a permanent part of the Regular Army and the Organized Reserve Corps. This law provides that during the period until July 1, 1950, the number of women in the Regular Army may be 500 officers, 75 warrant officers, and 7,500 enlisted women. Thereafter, it will be 2% of the authorized strength of the Regular Army. This law demanded action. The call went out. Rejoin. Yes, action was the key word. The Women's Army Corps Training Center at Camp Lee, Virginia was inaugurated as the central point for the training of wax in the Regular Army. This was opened on October 4, 1948 and charged with the overall mission to conduct basic military training for women recruits, to process re-enlistees, to conduct specialist training, leaders training for non-commissioned officers, and an officer candidate school. To Camp Lee one autumn afternoon came an old friend of ours, a re-enlistee. She was interviewed upon entering the camp. Pardon me, this is the right place to report, isn't it? It certainly is. Here are my records. You're getting back in the saddle again. It's a general idea. Well, you're in a very selective club now. So they tell me. The requirements run awfully high now. Say, according to your records, you had quite a tour of duty overseas during the war. I got around a little. You certainly did. Algiers, England, France. No Germany? I'm still hoping. Me, I got overseas to the Pacific. Oh, where to? Clear to the end of the San Diego pier. Well, I'm glad you didn't go any further. That is without a boat underneath you. A good boat can be handy on occasion. Well now, we'll see that you're billeted nicely. Thank you. You realize this is a genuine thing now, a regular army. I think it's wonderful that the corps is a part of the regular army now. Say, you must meet a lot of re-enlistees. Oh, I meet all of them who come through. Did you have a woman come in? Yes, I've had a woman come in. No, I can't remember her name, isn't it terrible? I think it was Mabelot. I used to be billeted with her in London. What'd she look like? Well, she was kind of big. Not too big. She had rather large feet. At least she used to think so. I didn't think so. You're shedding no light on this whatsoever. Oh, she's a real good age. Lots of fun. Where was she from? Maybe that would help. New York? We have only millions to choose from. No, I'll tell you. Look around camp here. Maybe you'll run into her. Oh, I hope so. I hope so too. I want to see this girl who has rather large feet that you don't think she has. Thank you. See, what am I going to do here? Have you any idea? Well, I just this moment decided you can help me. Of course, I'll have to talk the captain into it. Oh, what will I be doing? You can help me scan some of these enlistment records. You'll have to learn the rules and regulations again. Camp Lee hums with activity as the new training program goes into effect. With the personnel selection set at the highest level, the training must adhere to the same exactness. Eight weeks of basic training are required for the recruit, during which time the trainee will receive her indoctrination into military life. By the time the recruit has assimilated the basic elements of military knowledge, she will be ready to enter the first phase of specialist training to take her first step toward a military career. Part of the busy helmet camp Lee is our old friend Joanne, who reports as previously instructed to her sergeant. Sit down. How are you getting along by now? Fine, thank you. Any sign of your friend, Jen? No. Well, don't give up hope. She may come in one of these days. Now then, let's check these records. But first, let's get into these eligibility requirements. You know that our keynote is quality, not quantity. I say that every morning when I look at myself in the mirror. You too? Seriously, though. You know that women may enlist for three, four, five, or six years of active duty. Right. Good. Now tell me, what are the five cardinal points of eligibility for enlistment? One. Women between the ages of 18 and 35 years are eligible to apply for enlistment. Right. Two. Applicants who have not reached their 21st birthday will be required to furnish written consent of parents or guardians. Very good. Three. Women with prior military service are eligible to apply, provided their age does not exceed 25 plus the number of years of completed honorable active wax service since July 1st, 1943. Excellent. Four. Women without prior military service must be high school graduates and must be unmarried at the time of enlistment. Say, you're good. Five. In addition to age and educational qualifications, each woman must meet the standards of health and character. Terrific. You got them all. My, what a memory. Oh, just a minute there. You were reading those. I didn't say I wasn't. Now listen, you'd better learn those for your own good. All right. I will. But say, I understand there's an opportunity for enlisted personnel to be trained for a commission. There certainly is. Are you thinking of applying? That I am. Well, good luck. And if you make it, I'll be the first one to salute you. Great stress in the new WACP program at Camp Lee is placed on the training of non-commissioned officers. All enlisted women who meet the eligibility requirements, there is opportunity to achieve commission status. Having met the requirements, Joanne undergoes six months of the most intensive training possible before she is ready to assume her responsibilities as an Army officer. Well, well, well, a lieutenant. Do I look matty? You certainly do. Allow me to be the first one to salute you. Thanks. Do you know you're not the first? No. No. After all that training, those classes all day and then studying half the night. After all that, when I got those two gold bars, I stood up in front of a mirror and saluted myself. Why not? Say, I have more good news for you. Yes, what? I think you're going places. Me? Where? Berlin. Berlin, you're not joking. I hear it's in the cards after training. Today, women of the Corps, in addition to serving at various posts, camps, and stations throughout the United States, serve with the military governments like the Caribbean Command, the Far East Command, and in Europe. They're doing important work in administrative fields, medical fields, and in the fields of communications. In addition to their regular duties, many WACs have been engaged in German youth activities. Their off-duty time is given voluntarily to a comprehensive program of guiding the German youth back into the basic principles of democracy. And so we end our story of G.I. Joe, Joanne, not before telling you that when she arrived in the Temple Hofe air-drome in Berlin... Flight three from Paris, now boarding. Hey, Lieutenant, remember me? Mabel, you do remember me, even though I'm now a civilian and I'm the young one. Oh, I should say I do. I imagine meeting you in Berlin. Oh, we met once in London, remember? But look at you, you're back in the Corps. That's right. And the Lieutenant. Ah, I sure worked for it, too. Oh, you sure look smart. Thanks. What about yourself? What ever happened to you? Me? I came on into Berlin after V.E. And then? I got married. You got married? Oh, Mabel, that's wonderful. Well, it's pretty exciting. Well, tell me what's he like? Don't look now, but he's in the Army. And he has a darling sense of humor. There he is, right over there. Oh, nice. Where? Right there. I want you to meet him. Oh, I see, the Sergeant. Sergeant, nothing. Oh, Colonel. The people of America share the pride of the Women's Army Corps in its wartime record and their pride in taking a place in the peacetime army. The training and experience women will obtain as a part of the Women's Army Corps will be such as to enable them to obtain an understanding and appreciation of both the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in our democracy. This with specialized training will increase their value to their communities, whether they return to civilian life or continue their careers in the military service. The curtain falls in the final act of our special program commemorating the seventh anniversary of the Women's Army Corps. Our star, Mary Astor, will return for a curtain call after this timely message from Wendell Niles. This is important. This is urgent. Over 2,000 young physicians and dentists are needed as volunteers at once for a service in the United States Army or United States Air Force. The physicians and dentists are required to safeguard the health of the men and women who are serving our country in the armed services. If you are a physician or a dentist, you are needed now. Write or wire the Surgeon General of the United States Army or the Air Surgeon of the United States Air Force at once volunteering for active duty. Let me repeat that. Write or wire the Surgeon General of the United States Army or the Air Surgeon of the United States Air Force today or see your local U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force recruiting station. Now, once again, our star, Mary Astor, and our producer. Mary, I'm especially proud to have you here with us as the star of this show, our special program honoring the seventh anniversary of the Women's Army Corps. Oh, I'm so glad you asked me, CP. The Women's Army Corps is a wonderful service for a young woman. What a grand opportunity and experience this offers for them. Well, it's not only experience, training, and travel the Women's Army Corps provides, but also these women serve individually as our ambassadors. Yes, indeed. And they are wonderful examples of a democracy. People over the entire world can see American womanhood as a product of freedom in thinking and living. You know, I am reminded of a conversation I had with Ambassador Macon from Australia. I asked him how our wax were getting along in his country, and he said, if our young women under similar circumstances would do as well, we would be very proud, indeed. That was a grand thing for him to say. I know, too, that it makes us realize the whack of the present peacetime army is carrying on with the good work her wartime sister whack started. Those in the First Women's Army Corps did set a mark in the performance of their duties that has already become a tradition. I know that our women now are doing their work with customary whack thoroughness. Well, the army says we want quality, not quantity, and that's what they're getting, the highest caliber of young American womanhood. Well, in that same thought, CP, every young woman who wears the uniform of the whack can point to her enlistment and say, I was selected. How true that is. And now, Mary, is there anything else that you would like to add? Indeed, there is, CP. From all of us here in Hollywood, we wish every one of you in the Women's Army Corps a happy anniversary. Thanks, Mary. I know all those fine young women here and abroad will hear your message over both the domestic and the Armed Forces Radio Service broadcast. And now, CP, before I leave, who is to be your star for next week? Next week, Mary and ladies and gentlemen, Gene Raymond joins us as star of a bright and gay comedy titled The Mighty Milligan. This is the story of a prize-fighting young law student who is working his way through college by means of knockdowns in the squared circle and takes the full count when romance gets in the ring. Oh, that should be excellent. I'll be listening. Now, goodbye, CP. Goodbye, Mary Astor. Please share the join us next week, ladies and gentlemen, when we bring you Gene Raymond in The Mighty Milligan. Until then, thanks for listening and Cheerio from Hollywood. Mary Astor appears with the courtesy of the Hollywood Coordinating Committee, which arranges for the appearance of all stars on this program. This grip was by Rich Hall with music under the direction of Eddie Dunstetter. This program is transcribed in Hollywood for release at this time. Wendell Niles speaking.