Three of the original four girls featured on the stamp
Publicity shot from US Armed Forces
WAC Corp, Mary J. Gorsuch
WAF Pfc, Margaret E. Tansey
Wave Chief Yeoman,
Virginia E. Jackson
The fourth girl in the stamp, Peg Bentley
In September 1942 during World War II the Army Air Forces (AAF) was assigned its first women, members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), for work in the Aircraft and Warning Service which operated listening posts . In the summer of 1943, its auxiliary status was dropped, and the WAAC became the Women's Army Corps, or WAC, placing the organization in the Army. When the AAF was permitted to do its own recruiting, the women were known informally as Air WACs. The peak Air WAC strength of over 32,000 was in 1945 when more than 200 specialties were filled by enlisted women, and officers occupied 60 specialties. Following the war, most Air WACs were discharged, and no WACs were transferred to the Air Force when it became a separate service in 1947. In June 1948, Congress established the Women in the Air Force (WAF) but limited the corps to 300 officers and 4,000 enlisted women. In June 1976, women were accepted into the service on much the same conditions as were men, and the separate status of the WAF was abolished.
