 the pioneer woman helped to win a continent. Today with the same spirit of determination, American women are working to save this way of life, working to save the nation from the impact of total war, working to build a sure defense. American women are alert to the dangers which threaten our democracy today. Women trained in science are testing and observing and working to discover new ways to misthread. Other women skilled and unskilled are asking, what can I do to help? This film will show what women are doing and what they can do. Every woman has an important place in the National Defense Program in science, in industry and in the home, vital to national defense. Its most important use is for parachutes and powder bags. New substitutes are being perfected in the laboratory to meet the growing demand. Normal wear is hard on clothes but not so hard as a machine like this and there is a direct relation between an abrasion tester, clothing and national defense. Durability and economy are important to American consumers called on to make sacrifices in this emergency. Is more than military equipment and armed forces. Defense is keeping the nation strong and healthy. In this important work of defense our scientists are experimenting with small animals to find out things about vitamins. A complete report of their reaction and growth is recorded after they are given experimental food formulas during which they are carefully checked and weighed. New and health-giving diets are being developed through this research. This woman is a modern pioneer, a scientist. She symbolizes the tremendously important work of women in chemistry, in bacteriology, in physics, in nutrition, in medicine, in hundreds of hospitals and laboratories throughout our country. Men and women who work on the production of our defense weapons must be well nourished. Good nutrition is not entirely a question of income. Thousands of women are attending free lectures on how to buy food and prepare meals which are nutritious and economical. Women working in industrial plants need costumes which are comfortable and safe around machinery. Uniforms which meet these needs have been designed. Thirds of the jobs in defense industries can be done by women today. And officials of the defense program are advocating more extensive job training for women and girls. These girls already trained in our new defense program are able to turn out small machine parts. More women are being trained in mechanical trades to meet the shortage of skilled labor for drilled presses, turret lathes, milling machines, planers and welding equipment. Women are being recruited daily to help make planes for the nation's air forces. Three million women in factories all over the country are making things. Sewing strong fabrics, sewing control surfaces for fighter planes. In a war in which so many machines and tools and so much metal is required it is strange how much sewing there is. Women are bringing a natural skill to an important job. Their efficient contribution is helping us to speed up production of bombers and fighting ships. In parachute takes 65 yards of silk. Only silk has the lightness and strength essential in making parachutes. Women who have had special training in the manufacture of this product are the only ones who can be employed in these factories. A man's life depends on every parachute so there is no margin for error. The nimble fingers of these women are capable of turning out perfect workmanship on unbelievably fast running machines. These highly specialized industries are finding women extraordinarily efficient and are using them more and more in the making of precision instruments which are so essential in war today. All of these instruments require ball bearings or roller bearings. Bearing so precise that experts must use a microscope for assembling. This is work in which women excel, giving it constant care and alertness. Women's hands, thousands of them, skillful, patient and accurate, are assembling parts precisely dimensioned without which no bomber could fly and without which no mechanized land unit could move. That glides down the ways must have electrical switches. Women today are assembling, gauging, fitting together, riveting, drilling and making them. This work requires fingers that move with lightning speed. Every defense worker doing her job well. That's the battle of production and the essence of defense. Shins of shells are moving off the production lines in our great plants from coast to coast. Shells for tanks and naval guns. Shells for coast and field artillery. Shells for anti-aircraft defense. Women are skillful, engaging and checking for minute imperfections. Mass production is important when you realize that a single machine gun can fire 1,400 rounds a minute. Return to the women who are asking, what can I do for defense? The American Women's Voluntary Services provides instruction in many basic skills to over 80,000 women. Soon the Office of Civilian Defense will cooperate not only with the AWBS, but with all other private and public agencies to aid volunteers in obtaining the training they want. A training indispensable in war, valuable in peace. The Red Cross today is the culmination of the work of a woman who pioneered under the duress of a war. Clara Barton, its founder, determined that the care of the wounded should not be left to the unskilled. Today, true to its tradition, the American Red Cross volunteers are responding to the needs of war distressed peoples. 25 million and more surgical dressings have already been sent to Europe. Science's newest weapon against death is the blood bank. Thousands of women today are giving their blood, giving the essence of life to save life. Of the inspiration which our pioneer women left us as a proud heritage. And again today American women are stirred by that heritage. Serving their country in the laboratory, on defense production lines, in the Civilian Defense Services, and in the home, which is after all the first line of defense. Women have always been the guardians of the home and the children, the future of our country. And they are determined that our democracy shall survive and that our precious freedoms shall be preserved.