These military spouses were unsung heroes of American history

Any military spouse knows the daily trials of being married to military personnel, but the milspouse is an unsung hero almost everywhere else. For the general public, it’s just another job, one that few people understand what the stakes can be. And for this reason, it hasn’t always been easy to talk about.

Luckily, in these more modern, cosmopolitan times, it’s more kosher to convey the hardships of military life and the changes that come with it, especially when you are not the military member. It wasn’t always so. And military marriages often took an interesting turn, especially when the military member brought work home with them. So it’s essential to look back at the milspouse trailblazers, those unsung heroes of American history who inspire us today.

While Martha Washington may have become more controversial in recent years, primarily due to her outspokenness about owning slaves, in her day, the former Miss Dandridge put blood, sweat, and tears into helping her country. Even before she became the OG First Lady, she hosted events as a military spouse, inviting fellow soldiers for meals, comfort, or general entertainment. She regularly assisted her legendary husband with military communication and clerical work and traveled to battlefronts to provide company, support, or supplies to George and his soldiers. 

Imagine military spouses doing those tasks today.

America’s First Milspouses

Mary Hays is another unsung hero of the Revolutionary War. Like Washington, she was close to the front lines, helping soldiers get medical help, but unlike Martha Washington, Hays also manned a cannon after her husband was injured on the battlefield. She assisted during battles by washing dirty clothes and rags and bringing water to soldiers. It’s often believed that she is the woman behind the “Molly Pitcher” lore, who brought fresh water to soldiers from a nearby spring. A marker today stands at the Battle of Monmouth site, marking the location where the spring was discovered.

Fast-forward to World War I, when the term “war brides” was coined to describe the thousands of couples who quickly married before soldiers went off to war. As men went off to fight, young women were left at home to take over chores and jobs that would have otherwise been done by their husbands.

The same thing happened during World War II, when women, often referred to as “Rosie the Riveter” or simply “Rosies,” took on traditionally blue-collar jobs to keep the country running. Without women taking over these roles, production and necessary supplies would not have been available. Millions of women were already in the workforce due to the Great Depression, but it’s estimated that six million women took wartime jobs during the Second World War, with just three million joining after the war began.

The League of Wives

After the end of the Vietnam War, dozens of American prisoners of war came home, thanks to the work of their wives. The POWs’ plight was championed by the U.S. government after Jane Denton, Sybil Stockdale, Louise Mulligan, Andrea Rander, Phyllis Galanti, and Helene Knapp took charge. The wives created The League of Wives in order to pressure the U.S. government to prioritize bringing their spouses home. Sybil Stockdale met with the North Vietnamese peace delegation in Paris, spoke to reporters, and even defied White House policy to force the military’s hand.

Mostly unsung heroes, these milspouses had their story told in the 2019 book, The League of Wives,” by historian Heath Hardage Lee. 

Again, consider the idea of modern military spouses approaching the government, especially an enemy government, with any plan, let alone one that’s politically and emotionally charged. Yet that’s exactly what took place during the Vietnam War, and it’s a story that’s even more impressive, considering they were successful. 

Of course, these instances are just the beginning; a drop in an unending bucket of times that military spouses stepped up and helped keep the country running smoothly. That’s the problem with unsung heroes: if they stay unsung for too long, we might forget what they did. Whether placing themselves in danger to save their husbands or offering labor to meet production quotas, these women helped create a world with more female rights and fewer hardships for all – civilian and military alike.