During World War One, the US recruited women who spoke French to be telephone operators in the war zone. Over 200 women, called Hello Girls, were sent to France. One important condition of service for these women that the US Army did not make clear or explain was that they were considered by the Army to be contract civilian workers. This meant that should they be wounded, killed, or captured overseas, they had no military standing for collective bargaining and could find themselves interred in a prisoner of war camp or an internment camp without the official protection of the United States under the rules of war. It also meant that they would have no veteran’s benefits when they left the service. When military and veteran’s status was finally granted to these women in 1979, only a handful remained alive to receive their benefits.

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