Narratives of World War II in the Pacific

Latinas Roles and Contributions in the Pacific Theater

Maria Sally Salazar

This is photo of Maria Salazar, taken during the her time in the service, circa 1943-1945. Salazar was a Texas native who was part of the Women's Army Corp and was stationed in the Pacific, specifically in the Philippines.

Latinas Roles and Contributions in the Pacific Theatre

            Women in World War II, were forced out of their traditional domestic spheres and poured into the workforce. Women were also eager to support the war effort through enlisting in the military. The patriotic duty felt by many women did not just contain its self to the majority but lent itself to the minorities and lower classes as well. Latinas’ participation in the war effort, particularly through enlistment, highlights the traditional characteristic of patriotic duty among the Mexican American generation and on the general American population. Latina’s were proving patriotism and defying traditional stereotypical conventions through enlisting in military. Their contributions to the war effort manifested itself in their enlistment in the Women’s Army Corp and their motivations for entering the war largely reflected a patriotic and opportunistic ideology.

            The 1930’s was a time in history that a large majority of the American population faced universal hardships, that were manifested situations like the poor economic situation, job availability and food shortages. In Concepción Alvarado Escobedo’s oral history, she highlights the effects of the Great Depression on her family. She describes how her father, Paz Alvarado, lost his job and was left with odd jobs to provide for his family. Escobedo says her family “lost everything, even their house and furniture. They moved a few times and had to forgo the comfort of indoor plumbing and a gas stove for the harsh realities of outdoor toilet facilities and an old wood-burning stove.”[1] Escobedo also highlights the particular, personal effect that the war had on her. This is represented through the effects on her education. While she had previously attended a private catholic school, the economic effects of the Great Depression resulted in her enrollment into a local public school in San Antonio, Texas. The Alvarado’s were eventually able to recover with the Works Progress Association, which was part of Roosevelt’s New Deal plan in the midst of the Depression. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was “an ambitious employment and infrastructure program created by President Roosevelt… Over its eight years of existence… roughly 8.5 million Americans” found work.[2] Escobedo’s father was one of the millions who benefited from the program and more than likely found work particularly with the infrastructure projects carried out with the WPA. Through the help that was given to families, like the Alvarado’s unemployment decreased and further declined with the high demand manufacturing that was necessary for the war effort.

            Latinas had particular motivations for enlisting in the military, not to say that they are particular to the ethnicity, but rather to the gender of women in general. Maria Sally Salazar, a Texas veteran from Laredo, stated that when she enlisted in the Army she had aspirations to travel the world. Salazar, at the young age of nineteen, said that she “saw the beginning of the war as an opportunity to travel and see the world.”[3] Salazar’s desire to see the world even prompted her to illegally enlist under her sister’s name. She went by the name “Amelia” for the duration of her service in the Pacific theatre. Salazar’s aspirations are a reflection of the larger desire to travel and are a result of the overarching patriotic duty that was a larger characteristic of the World War II generation.  Escobedo, another Texas native from Southton, describes her upbringing as an influence to her enlistment into the Army. Escobedo says that “growing up as the oldest of six girls, [she] learned early what it means to take responsibility… She was hardly more than a toddler [when] she helped her mother take care of her younger sisters… This early introduction to hard work later led her to develop a strong sense of duty, responsibility and service.”[4] Escobedo seems to exude the patriotic attitude that is reflective of the times. Escobedo had a history of a fascination with the military. Her admiration originated from the exposure to the ROTC officers after her transition to public school and had volunteered as an air-raid warden in San Antonio, Texas. Her decision to enlist in the Army was largely influenced “after attending a military rally that promoted women in the service.” [5] Both oral histories reflect that larger patriotic duty that was a strong hold in the country as well as express the desire to gain new experiences and travel through enlisting in the military.

            The contributions of the Latina military women, in the Pacific theatre, were diverse. Some in the Women’s Army Corp (WAC) were sent abroad as nurses, while others who stayed on the home front were tasked with more domestic jobs. Maria Salazar was sent to the Pacific theatre as a nurse with WAC. Salazar’s main job was with the Surgeon General’s office, where she was tasked with helping with the wounded men, although she said they worked “anywhere they needed us ... but mostly in the medical field.”[6] Salazar showcases the diversity that women were required to have as part of the military. Barbara Tomlin, author of G.I. Nightingales: The Army Nurse Corps in World War II, wrote that “the first American servicewomen to be sent to the Pacific theatre during World War II were US Army nurses. They accompanied Army hospital units… to care for the first American troops.”[7] This highlights the importance and significance of the role of these women in the theatre. Latinas also contributed on the home front. Escobedo described her time at Randolph Air Force base as seeming “just like a regular job.”[8] There she was a file clerk and eventually contributed as a baker for the WAC unit. Anna Torres Vasquez, on the other hand, was a WAC who served as a trainer with the 3^rd Air Force. She was “sent to Florida to train allied pilots in the 201^st Mexican Fighter Squadron in the South Pacific.”[9] Vasquez’s contribution is unique because her story represents the fact that she truly stepped out of the traditional female jobs that women held, unlike Salazar and Escobedo.

            In conclusion, Latina servicewomen held many different jobs during the war. While some contributed from the home front like Vasquez and Escobedo, others contributed on the front lines, in the Pacific theatre as nurses, like Salazar. Their contributions to the war effort manifest through their enlistments into the service and are representative of the patriotic duty that was instilled in American culture during World War II.

Bibliography

Maria Sally Salazar, interviewed by Nicole Cruz, September 28, 2002, VOCES Oral History Project, University of Texas, Austin, TX.

Concepción Alvarado Escobedo, interviewed by Sandra Freyberg, September 13, 2003, VOCES Oral History Project, University of Texas, Austin, TX.

Anna Torres Vasquez, interviewed by William Luna, June 20, 2002, VOCES Oral History Project, University of Texas, Austin, TX.

Tomblin, Barbara. 1996. G.I. Nightingales : The Army Nurse Corps in World War II. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.

History.com Editors. “Works Progress Administration (WPA).” HISTORY.com. (accessed November 15, 2018).