Saluting Our Grandmas: Women of World War II

Gr 7 Up—So often it is the male soldiers of the "greatest generation" who are the subjects of books and films; this volume, however, focuses on the contributions of women in the military during World War II. Norrod's mother, Pauline, like many other young women, left home to enlist, serving in the Navy's WAVE (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) program. After boot camp in New York, Pauline was assigned to the naval air station in Memphis, where she worked as a mechanic. Years later, Pauline traveled to the World War II memorial in Washington, DC, as part of the Honor Flight Network, a nonprofit organization that arranges for veterans to visit memorials, and this episode is the emotional center of the title—Pauline talks with teenage girls about her service. Chapters contain basic information about the war: life on the home front; an overview of female military service, including women nurses, Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), and members of the Women's Army Corps (WAC); and the origins of the Honor Flight Network. Numerous archival and contemporary photographs appear throughout the work, breaking up the text.