DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: A woman pioneer in the U.S. military died last week after a long career in the Army.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Elizabeth Hoisington was one of the first two women to reach the rank of brigadier general. She enlisted in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II when the military was still segregated by gender. She completed tours in Germany, Japan and France. Hoisington became director of the Women's Army Corps in 1966. Under her guidance, the corps grew in numbers and women assumed new roles in intelligence, electronics and air traffic control.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: General Hoisington was outspoken in her defense of the Women's Army Corps saying, we were always just as much officers as any other officer. To those who say we weren't, to hell with them.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: As for whether women should be allowed into combat, General Hoisington said, she did not think the American people would accept that.</s>DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host: Brigadier General Elizabeth Hoisington died August 21st of congestive heart failure. She was 88 years old.
Host Debbie Elliott notes the death this past week of a woman pioneer in the U.S. military, Brig. Gen. Elizabeth Hoisington, one of the first two women to attain that rank. She joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, and went on to lead the Women's Army Corps in 1966, in an era when women were taking on new roles in the military.