28 Whole Number 227
men had to receive permission from their
company commanders and might have had
to meet with a chaplain prior to the mar-
riage so that the soldier had the opportunity
to have a clear and reasonable thought pro-
cess. Occasionally there were unusual cer-
emonies, different from peacetime, where
the groom was overseas and the bride was
at home. These were “absentee” or proxy
marriages. They were ceremonies con-
ducted by telephone or radio, occasionally
with contracts signed and exchanged by
mail, or sometimes with a “stand in” (an
attorney or other designated person) for the
groom. The legality of these marriages
raised questions at both state law levels con-
cerning domicile, children and other issues,
and at federal levels concerning government
benefits and immigration. For a detailed dis-
cussion, see “The Validity of Absentee
Marriage of Servicemen” in The Yale Law
Journal of June 1946.
For reasons more reflective of culture than
clear thinking, the military services had dif-
ferent and more restrictive rules for mar-
riage by women in uniform. Originally mar-
riage was prohibited for nurses in either the
Figure 8 illustrates two envelopes from just before and just after the
Army or the Navy Nurse Corps, and in fact
Normandy invasion of June 6, 1944, as the writers reached out to the Army required an automatic dishonor-
send messages of love and affection.
able discharge of the nurse. The War De-
partment changed this policy for the Army
casualties out of 2,056 paratroopers of which 307 were
early in the war to allow married nurses to stay in
Killed-In-Action (KIA). They later participated in
uniform, at the discretion of the Surgeon General, for
Operation Market Garden (Groesbeek-Nijmegen,
the duration of the war plus six months. The marriage
Holland) and the Battle of the Bulge. The envelope
penalty, however, remained in effect for the Navy De-
shown was marked “missing’ on July 18, shortly af-
partment (a separate Cabinet level department until
ter the 508
th
returned to England, and was sent back
combined with the Army and the new Air Force un-
to the female sender. Again, thoughts and emotions
der the Secretary of Defense in 1947) for almost the
ran high for both civilians and soldiers at this period
entire WWII combat period. The policy was sus-
of the war, particularly when it involved someone you
pended in January 1945 to maintain personnel levels,
loved. The good news again is that the paratrooper
but was reinstituted in November 1945.
was captured, spent the rest of the war at Stalag 7B,
Memmingen, Germany and was released and returned
In 1941, the first legislation was introduced in the US
to the US at the end of the war
Congress calling for the creation of roles for females
.
in the military services. The British had already done
It is not clear if there were any special rules for US
this, and were using women to fill skilled and techni-
marriages for men in uniform at the beginning of
cal job categories, allowing men to be drafted into
WWII that were different from civilian rules. Soldiers
combat roles. The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps/
married according the laws of the state where the
Women’s Army Corps (WAAC/WAC) was established
marriage was taking place after obtaining the appro-
in May 1942, followed by the Women Accepted for
priate marriage license. In some commands, enlisted
Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in July, the
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