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We say again: the normal part.
In other words, the same part of society that we fit into… that your wife fits into… that your mother fits into. They’re just normal girls, enjoying their life. Yes, some of them have an energy level and lust for life that drives them to inhabit the more risky worlds that swirl around male–female relationships… like sex for money. But far more of them simply seek the heightened enjoyment that comes from being in the close proximity to both war and the men who fight wars. Girls like the Donut Dollies of the Vietnam era fit into this mold, as do the entertainers that travel the world’s combat hot spots today, belting out rock tunes and shaking their little fringed ass on a stage fronting 10s of thousands of screaming G.I.s.
So basic a part of human existence and the form of interaction that men and women have come to consider acceptable is this whole concept, that we might go so far here as to define the kind of women who fit into this mold as falling into one of seven categories: Enslaved Comfort Givers; Distant Comfort Givers; Intimate Comfort Givers; Personal Comfort Givers; Sincere Comfort Givers; Home Front Comfort Givers; and Jody Comfort Givers.
The first and last of this list of seven types obviously involves women who, for whatever reason, find themselves enmeshed in one of the warped elements of society and humanity. The first, Enslaved Comfort Givers, includes those unfortunate and pitiable women who have been forced into sex in service of the military... as in the WWII Japanese Comfort Woman case.
The last on the list, Jody Comfort Givers, covers those women who, through their own free will and volition have decided to turn their back on a solider who they previously claimed they loved, stop giving comfort to him, and offer their love and comfort to some Jody down the street. The rest... the other five categories, all involve fully aware women who chose to do what they do for the purpose of satisfying their own needs, and giving comfort to a soldier in the process.
Let’s take a look at one of these categories: Distant Comfort Givers.
The best example of the kind of women that make up Distant Comfort Givers are those entertainers, typically USO performers and professional celebrities, that travel the world bringing distraction and diversion to the troops, usually via stage shows and the like. By "Distant" we mean that although the drive to be with men is the primary factor that causes these women to seek out military men in combat locations, other overriding elements prevent them from developing truly intimate relationships with those men. Thus, while the imprimatur of intimacy is present, the fact is that the entertainer at all times remains detached and distant from the men being sought.
Clearly, this connotes a different level of involvement than, say, that of a sex worker who practices the trade out of her own free will (what we classify as an Intimate Comfort Giver); someone who both seeks the money involved in the relationship with the soldier, as well as his comfort and enjoyment for her own good. Similarly for girls who work in bars (what we classify as Personal Comfort Givers) but do not sleep with the G.I.s that frequent the bar. These girls may strip with ease while on the dance floor, but tend not to get intimately involved with individual soldiers until and unless a true “friendship” develops.
At that time the girl will often become the soldier’s “girlfriend”, with the resulting change usually leading to sex. In fact, so ritualized is this process that within the “industry” it is known to all as the “girlfriend experience”. While Personal Comfort Givers tend to avoid this trap, Intimate Comfort Givers use it as a sales tool… offering the girlfriend experience to men they meet at the bar, as a means of making even more money from the tricks they do. Within the industry, it is not uncommon for an Intimate Comfort Giver to have 8 - 10 boyfriends of her own. Busy little beavers (no pun intended), these types of girls work diligently at keeping their stable of 10 or so boyfriends all happy—and oblivious to the fact that they are doing so for 9 others too... on the nights when they are not with you.
But what of Distant Comfort Givers? What drives them?
Surprisingly, while much of it comes from a desire to be with men… as many men as possible… like 10,000 screaming soldiers all crying their love for you… promotion of an entertainer’s career and narcissism play an even bigger role in their decision to travel to be with men in a war zone than does the need to be with the men themselves. Not much, mind you... but enough.
Do not misunderstand us… we are not belittling their desire to “entertain the troops”, nor are we saying that their actions are disingenuous. To the contrary. As we said above, what they are offering to the soldiers they entertain is still comfort, it still serves its purpose, and it still works its magic. USO-like entertainment venues serve an extremely valuable service, regardless of the reasons that drive individual entertainers to do it.
Take the case of Marilyn Monroe. In 1954 she visited Korea to entertain the troops. Tellingly, she commented about the trip, “For the first time in my life, I had a feeling that the people seeing me were accepting and liking me.”
You see our point? For Ms. Monroe it was all about her. She was doing it, first, to satiate her own vanity, and then secondarily to bring comfort to the soldiers.
And once again—for you argumentative old curmudgeons out there—what we say here is not meant to fault her. It just is what it is. Ms. Monroe’s needs were met, as were those of the soldiers that she wooed… and in the process a level of sexual innuendo somewhat more refined than that used by Intimate Comfort Givers and Personal Comfort Givers was used to heighten the comfort of the men.
As for Marilyn, she and Joe DiMaggio, recently married at the time, were on their honeymoon in Tokyo (in February of 1954) when she received an invitation from General John E. Hull’s Far East command to entertain the U.S. troops in Korea. Joe objected mightily… not due to the prospect of thousands of men ogling his wife, but because of fear for her safety. Marilyn, on the other hand, insisted that she would go. She argued that the armistice had just been signed (in July of 1953) and that she would be just fine. After all, the entire U.S. Army would be there to protect her.
Insisting that she be allowed to entertain those men in most danger, her agenda included several shows that were very close to the front lines… which was still a very dangerous place to be at that time. When asked about her choice of venues, she said it was “the least I could do.”
Her tour was a whirlwind, consisting of ten shows in four days in what turned out to be true, sub-zero temperatures. And yet Marilyn was Marilyn… she knew what the men wanted, and she was determined to give it to them. What they wanted was sex, and she was determined to provide it.
“Wearing nothing but a skin tight, low cut, plum colored sequined gown, she wowed the troops with her singing, dancing, and banter.” In other words, she was the epitome of a Distant Comfort Giver… intimate through suggestion and innuendo, yet safely removed from the madding crowd. The beauty of the concept is beyond words. Women who volunteer to travel to places where soldiers fight, to bring the most intimate of proximate, sexually driven comfort to them, right there on the field of battle… yet without either party having touched the other.
Lest our comments make it seem like giving comfort to soldiers is some seamy sort of undertaking, it most certainly is not. Yes, the sex element plays a big role in making the exercise work, but it is not the only factor. For girls at every level of our Comfort Chart… except for levels one and seven… the entire effort revolves around a sexually tinged construct intended to bring comfort and satisfaction to both the Comfort Girl and the Soldier.
Marilyn got what she wanted out of the experience, and so did the Army and its soldiers. During her tour of Korea Marilyn Monroe went beyond the bounds of what was necessary, imbuing the comfort she brought with not just her actions, but the depth of her soul. She visited hospitals where wounded servicemen lay, stopping to talk, shaking hands, signing autographs, and endlessly posing with every soldier that asked for a picture. Friends reported that after her tour she was totally exhausted and caught a mild case of pneumonia; yet she did not complain. In her own words, she said that the Korea tour was one of the highlights of her entire career… and this from a girl who put her own honeymoon on hold to bring comfort to America’s fighting men. As one Army Corps of Engineers Officer said of Marilyn, “Of all the performers who came to us in Korea—and there were a half a dozen or so—she was the best. It was bitter cold, but she was in no hurry to leave. Marilyn was a great entertainer. She made thousands of GI’s feel like she really cared.”
The war that preceded Korea was no different. In World War II women went out of their way to bring comfort to the men on the front lines.
Betty Hutton, a pin-up girl at the time and future tragic heir to the Woolworth fortune, travelled fifty thousand miles in eight weeks, in 1944, making countless stops in her quest to visit “as many of our boys as possible.” She travelled to islands and atolls in the Mariana group (e.g. Guam, Saipan, and Tinian), the Marshall Islands, the Gilbert Islands, “and Iwo Jima in the Ogasawara Islands.” So aggressive was she in her travels that she reached Saipan before the enemy left. Mounting a small, hastily constructed stage, even while fire was heard in the background, she asked her audience—in what they surely thought was a voice from home—"What'll I sing fellas?" She then proceeded to sing and sing, until her voice faded to a whisper.
Then there was Martha Raye. During WWII she and her pals Carole Landis, Al Jolson, Kay Francis and Mitzi Mayfair formed a USO Troupe of their own and set out to entertain the men. When that war ended and Korea came along she reprised her effort to bring comfort to the troops and headed off to Japan and Korea. Yet even that was not enough to satiate her desire to be with the men on the front lines. When Vietnam came along she packed up and headed off again to sing for the boys. This time though she spent nine years on the road, sometimes staying in country in Vietnam for as long as six months at a time.[1]
Filling in as a nurse when not performing, Ms. Raye often worked endless hours without a break. While few of us Vietnam Vets know of it, in 1993 she was awarded the Medal of Freedom for her lifetime service to America. When she died a special exception to policy was made so that she could be buried in the military cemetery at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Her legacy remains true today: for over 50 years Colonel Maggie, as she was known, served the military she loved.[2]
As to other Distant Comfort Givers, the list of those who sought out the company of G.I.s to bring them comfort is too long to post here. Among them are such outstanding women as
– Mamie Van Doren. Ms. Van Doren was an actress, singer and beauty contestant who made two trips to Vietnam… on her own, at her own expense, and not with the USO. The first trip was during the Tet Offensive of 1968. The second was in 1971, when she went for 3 months. During that trip she became ill because of her rigorous schedule and actually had to be medevaced to the US.
– For the Vietnam War, Ann-Margaret and Jill St. John come to mind, as does Anita Bryant, and the entire Miss America court. Again, there are too many to list.
In terms of those who qualify as World War II Distant Comfort Givers, Marlene Dietrich must certainly be placed at the top. Considered a living legend before the war, her effort to bring comfort to the men who fought in Europe was legendary. Born Marie Magdalene Dietrich on December 27, 1901, in Berlin, Germany, she took up acting in her late teens. She became an American citizen in 1939, and during World War II entertained U.S. troops, participated in War Bond drives and made Anti-Nazi broadcasts in German. Ms. Dietrich was awarded the Medal of Freedom for "meeting a grueling schedule of performances under battle conditions... despite risk to her life". She was also named Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor. She died in 1992.
So what of these Comfort Givers? What should we make of them?
Our answer: in each case, at each level, the people involved were and still are nothing more than working girls... in the literal sense of the word. That is, their work consists of giving comfort to soldiers, a task from which they derive as much comfort and satisfaction as the soldier they gave comfort to does. Yes, it is true that the higher up the list one goes… from Intimate Comfort Giver to Home Front Comfort Giver, the number of soldiers a woman offers comfort to decreases dramatically—finishing at the top level at one soldier per girl—but the rewards sought by the girl for her actions nevertheless stay the same. They still revolve around being in the proximity of military men, still have a sexual overtone to them, and still bring as much comfort and satisfaction to the girl as they do to the guy being served.
The next time you lift a drink then, lift it to the war babes that brought us comfort as we fought our wars. It matters not how close you got to one… whether she whispered to you as she sat on your lap in a bar off base, or you just heard of her beauty from the guys in the barracks; whether she personally passed you a donut, or she just smiled at you as your jeep roared by; whether you sat in a throng of screaming soldiers and saw her on stage, or only heard her records long after the war ended; whether her letters arrived on time, or you went for months without hearing from her… it matters not how physically intimate your personal Comfort Giver was with you, the intimacy that was important was that comfort which she cleverly placed in your heart and mind… thoughts of pursuing and winning her, thoughts of her warmth, thoughts of the comfort you felt when you thought of her.
The vicarious thrill of being in the proximity of a girl intent on giving you comfort was what is was all about… and still is. For men of war, such thoughts are often good enough to get a struggling soldier through his tour of duty, and back home again, alive and sane. The women you met who were Comfort Givers knew that. That’s why they did what they did. Good women all, they deserved better men than what they found when they found us.
As for us, without them, war would undoubtedly have been hell.
Footnotes:
[1] From 1964 to 1973, Martha Raye
traveled from camp to camp in isolated
areas throughout Vietnam, making 8 visits.
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[2] "Colonel Maggie," Martha Raye, was
an honorary member of the Special
Forces. She received her prized Green
Beret and the title of Lieutenant
Colonel from President Lyndon B.
Johnson, himself. Regarding her
volunteering as a nurse when she was not
entertaining, she used the nurse’s aide
skills she learned back in the 1930s,
and surgical techniques she picked up
during World War II, to help treat the
wounded. Ms. Raye was wounded twice
during her visits with the Green Berets.
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