Los Alamos Historian Nancy Bartlit
MOWW News:
This month’s meeting of Military Order Of The World Wars (MOWW) will feature Los Alamos Historian Nancy Bartlit presenting a talk on, “Ready, Willing, Able: Women in World War II”, Tuesday, Jan. 21 in Room 203A at the Los Alamos Research Park building.
Bartlit will discuss how the performances of women to assist the Allied WWII win in Europe or the Pacific are becoming better known through new research. The experiences were extremely varied. As men were called into military service, women used multiple skills successfully, such as: to produce war materials and equipment, to pilot B -29 airplanes, or to assist in atomic weapon research. U.S. Army nurses captured by Imperial Japanese troops in the Philippines cared for civilian prisoners for the WWII duration.
The diligence of the all-Black female Battalion Central Postal Directory 6888 (WAC), which cleared a huge backlog of mail meant for troops in Europe, has received attention now decades later. From a Princess volunteer who would become Queen to a First Lady who quietly visited Pacific troops, outstanding contributions by a single woman or groups of women made a difference. They were code-breakers, spies, entertainers, secretaries, homemakers or Japanese language teachers and recruited members of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) from the Japanese American internment camps.
Bartlit will focus on the unique story of the daughter of a Jewish concert pianist who, as a member of General MacArthur’s occupation staff, was assigned to draft new rights for women to be considered in a rewritten constitution for the conquered Japan. How did she succeed?
She is a local author, historian, lecturer, publisher, and former county council chairman. A history major at Smith College, she taught American English in a woman’s private academy in Sendai, Japan, 13-15 years after WWII. She tutored Japanese scientists and their family members in English in Los Alamos and returned many times to Japan to visit museums as well as to tour battle sites in the Pacific theater. Her published book on the unique encounters of New Mexicans and Japanese during WWII in the Pacific is based on many interviews with New Mexican U.S. Army, U.S. Marine and civilian veterans.
This month’s MOWW meeting will begin with a social period starting at 6 p.m. A brief meeting will start at 6:30 p.m., followed at about 7:15 p.m. by Bartlit’s presentation.
For further information, call Gregg Giesler at 505.662.5574 or email g.giesler@computer.org. The Military Order of the World Wars meetings are open to all interested people for dinner and program with RSVP, or the program only at no cost. The cost for dinner is $25. Please call Robert Hull at 505.328.1502 for reservations. A reservation is a commitment to pay. The dinner menu is TBD with appropriate sides.
The meeting will be a hybrid session including Zoom. Zoom will start at about 6 p.m. Zoom details will be in the reminder email two days before the meeting.
About MOWW:
An Act of Congress chartered the Military Order of the World Wars in 1919 as a national patriotic organization. The principal objectives of the MOWW are continuing service to the Nation, and patriotic educational opportunity for the nation’s youth and citizens. Current youth programs are focused upon annual Youth Leadership Conferences for high school students presented in New Mexico by its related Sunbelt Patriotic Youth Leadership Conferences, Inc. Current, former and retired federally commissioned officers of all branches of the United States Uniformed Services are eligible for membership in the MOWW and are especially invited to attend our meetings. For additional information about MOWW membership, call Commander Gregg Giesler at 505.662.5574.