Courage into the Unknown
Women Who Volunteered for the Army during World War 2 and served at Fort Oglethorpe
The Third Women's Army Corps Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe was not just a basic training facility among the pines of northwest Georgia. It was filled with women who left their homes, families, and professions with a common goal of joining the war effort. Some had brothers or cousins or other family members who had already joined. Some said they wanted to join to hurry an end to the war. All who joined were courageous because they had no idea where Uncle Sam would send them or what they would be facing, and also because they encountered open sexism from a patriarchal society. Minority WACs faced racism in a highly segregated Jim Crow society. Despite these challenges, 150,000 women would step up to take the oath to defend the Constitution.
​
These were women with stories. Here we spotlight seven women who were the first staff instructors at the Third WACs Training Center at Fort Oglethorpe. Known as cadre ('kadrē), or instructors, they were soldiers who had been trained either at the First WACs Training Center at Fort Des Moines, IA, or the Second WACs Training Center at Daytona Beach, FL, and sent to Fort Oglethorpe to be training cadre. They were the top picks from their training classes and chosen for their professionalism, knowledge, experience, and leadership.
Pallas Athena WAC uniform insignia.
These were the official lapel pins of the WAC. Athena was the Greek goddess of wisdom and victory. Photo credit: Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Captain Mary W. Long, Brooklyn, New York
Mary Long was the first WAC to enter the officer candidate school at Fort Des Moines, IA. She had been serving in the Women's Division of the Royal Canadian Air Force prior to joining the US Army. Captain Long attended higher education at Wellesley College, MA, and the Yale School of Nursing, CT. After graduating with the first WAC class from Des Moines, she joined the staff at the WAC training center in Daytona Beach before being transferred to Fort Oglethorpe. Captain Long served as assistant to Col. Hobart B. Brown, Commandant of the Training Center.
January 10, 1943, Chattanooga Daily Times
First Lieutenant Ruth S. Ginns, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ruth Ginns received a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, followed by graduate school at the Prince School of Retailing in Boston. She was also well traveled throughout Europe before the war. She left a successful career in a department store supervisory position to join the WAACs, which no doubt made her a natural choice for officer candidate school. Ruth was then transferred with the first wave of training cadre to Fort Oglethorpe where she became the supervisor of basic instruction.
​
After the war, Ruth married Richard Deneau of NY, on August 17, 1948, at her family's summer home on Lake Kezar, ME. Ruth's father, Dr. Robert Ginns, had been a successful dentist in Philadelphia. Ruth's mother came from the Lowenstein family.
January 17, 1943, Chattanooga Daily Times
Lieutenant Helen Tuckwiller, Lewisburg, West Virginia
Helen Tuckwiller was a graduate of Greenbriar College in Lewisburg. She studied art at the Art Institute of Pittsburg, which led to a successful career in commercial and fashion design in a retail department store in Charleston, WV. This art background led to her staff position at Fort Oglethorpe in charge of the library, publishing the daily bulletins, orders, and schedules, and also a "gossip column" for the WAAC's entertainment. Helen also played the piano, which probably boosted morale during off duty times.
January 29, 1943, Chattanooga Daily Times
Lieutenant Ruth V. Goelz, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Ruth Goelz graduated Beloit College in Milwaukee with a degree in sociology. Her first job was in what we would call human resources (HR) at International Harvester Company. After that she was employed in customer service at Consolidated Airlines, followed by HR work at Johnson & Johnson Gas Mask Company. Ruth left her civilian career to join the fourth officer candidate class at Fort Des Moines. She was transferred with the first group of training cadre to Fort Oglethorpe, where her civilian skills made her a natural leader in the supervision of training.
January 25, 1943, Chattanooga Daily Times
Virginia Clampitte, Houston, Texas
Virginia Clampitte was the director of physical training (PT). She received her undergraduate degree from Baylor University and her master's degree in physical education from the University of Texas. She was part of the first WAC officer's cadre to arrive at Fort Oglethorpe and she was one of the three "first officers" (highest ranking) at the post. Before the Army, she taught PT and modern dance at Reagan Senior High School in Houston and the University of Houston. Virginia wrote two of the four PT manuals used by WACs and contributed to a subsequent updated version.
January 14, 1943, Chattanooga Daily Times
February 14, 1943, The Houston Chronicle
Elizabeth A. Yancey, Staunton, Virginia
Elizabeth Yancey was born into a military family that moved around a lot. Her parents were married in Chattanooga during the Great War (WW1). She graduated a business school in Columbus, GA, while her father was stationed there, after which she attended the University of Wisconsin where she graduated with degrees in both Spanish and French. When her father was transferred to Fort Bragg, she took a job with a construction firm as personnel director and secretary to the company president, what we might call Human Resources today. Yancey was in that first WAC class at Fort Des Moines, After being transferred to Fort Oglethorpe, she naturally was assigned the position of personnel director. Yancey, Long, and Clampitte were the three "first officers" at the Third WAC Training Center.
January 9, 1943, Chattanooga Daily Times
Melba Griffin, Montevallo, Alabama
Melba Griffin was adjutant (assistant) in the Reception Center for WACs. This was the first stop for all soldiers entering the Army (after the Recruiting Station). In the Reception Center, the women were issued their first set of Army uniforms and gear. Melba received her bachelor's degree from Alabama College (for women) and a master's degree from Columbia in French, Spanish and German. Before the war broke out, she had been associate professor of languages and was well traveled throughout Europe and Central America. Melba's passion was gardening.
January 15, 1943, Chattanooga Daily Times
First WAC Officers at the South Post
January 2, 1943, Chattanooga Daily Times
This photo shows some of the first WAC training officers to arrive at the South Post at Fort Oglethorpe. The caption says they are standing in front of the post theater at the South Post. The ruins of this building can still be seen today in the Chickamauga National Park. It's easy to spot because the concrete ruins have a sloped floor typical of theaters. Below is a photo of the South Post theater taken by the author in 2025.
