WWII vet helped pave way for women in service

By Nick McCormac and Cheryl Matheson
Edited by Katie Gambrell

The role women played in World War II is often personified by the iconic Rosie the Riveter - a strong, determined female who overcame stereotypes to be respected the same as men, at least during the war.
 
Thelma Haigh was one of those strong, determined women. Haigh achieved the rank of petty office first class, the sixth-highest rank, after only a couple years in service.
 
"I rose in rank so quickly because I was that good. Let's face it," she said.
 
But Haigh, 86, who now lives at the Veteran's Victory nursing home in Walterboro, S.C., thought she was treated as an equal.
 
"I never felt there was a double standard for women in service," said Haigh.
 
Born in Birmingham, Ala., Haigh said she joined the service because she thought something that demanding would help her grow up.
 
"My dad wasn't happy with the thought of his daughter joining the service, but it was something I thought I would be good at," she said.

Haigh was part of The Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard, more popularly known as the SPARS. The SPARS - from the Coast Guard's Latin motto "Semper Paratus" and its English translation "Always Ready" - recruited about 12,000 women during the war.

She was responsible for using charts of the Norfolk, Va., harbor to help place buoys used for directing boat traffic into port and credits her attention to her job with helping her rise in rank so quickly.
 
One day, she noticed an error in a chart: The mapped route would guide ships right by an artillery range that wasn't listed, potentially exposing them to gunfire.
 
Haigh said she immediately showed her admiral, who was thankful she found such a big mistake.
 
Her commanding officers wanted to promote her to chief petty officer, something "unheard of back then" in just four years, but Haigh said she turned the promotion down.
 
"I thought I had to prove myself more, and there wasn't going to be any hanky panky," she said.
 
Because women proved they could work as hard as men, Haigh said, enlisted females were looked up to after the war ended, setting a new standard for how women seeking to join the service would be treated.
 
Haigh thinks the challenges she and women like her faced and overcame helped pave the way women in the military would be viewed.
 
I wouldn't want them to feel pressured into serving, but if they do go in, I know they would be going in for a reason," she said.
 
Specialist Kamina Hall of the S.C. Army National Guard in Columbia, said she joined the service with the belief women were treated badly but was surprised to be treated the same as the men.
 
"I get treated better in the military than in the civilian world," Hall said. "This is a safe haven for me."

However sexism still exists in the military, just as much as in the real world, said Master Sgt. Barbara Witt, equal opportunity counselor for the S.C. Army National Guard in Columbia.

Without laws and regulations making it an equal opportunity, "it would be a struggle for women in the military," she said.

Witt said sexual harassment and assault is a major problem for military women. She knows of numerous unsolved cases, many from deployment in Iraq.
 
Still, many women view the military as an equal opportunity for men and women.
 
"Women are in combat and are dying," said Col. Joanna Shumaker, director of staff at the S.C. Air National Guard. "They have achieved the ability to do what men do."
 
Though rules prohibit women from being forced to serve in hand-to-hand ground combat forces, many still voluntarily put themselves on the front lines and face the same dangers as anyone else in combat.
 
"Anyone can be captured or killed," said Witt.  
 
For Shumaker, having women in the military makes the armed forces even stronger.
 
"I truly believe there couldn't be an all-volunteer military without the contribution of women," she said.