Virginia Hall

An unsung heroine of WW II was Maryland-born Virginia Hall. She worked overseas for the State Department in a clerical position in Turkey. She had just resigned and traveled to Paris at the outbreak of the war. Angered by the horrific behavior of the Germans, she wanted to take an active role in their defeat. She became a spy for the British government, and was in fact one of only 40 women sent out by their espionage organization, the SOE (Special Operations Executive).

Virginia aided the French resistance in countless ways, and made life and death decisions that unquestionably altered the course of the War in France. All of this despite the loss of a leg years earlier in a hunting accident.

Note that she was employed by the British goverment, not the American. When she repeatedly applied for a State Department position, she was each time denied. When at last, the higher ups had exhausted all excuses for not hiring her, they came up with a new prohibition: "amputation is a cause for rejection." Why did they reject Virginia? Because, quite simply, she was a woman.

I am NOT a feminist, but am deeply troubled when I see how women in history and in the present age are passed over because of their gender. Because of American short-sightedness in the pre-war years, the State Department lost a valuable asset and a devoted patriot. Fortunately, for America and the Allies, she retained her deep love of the United States and of the freedom we say we offer for all.

Judith L. Pearsn has written an interesting but very poorly documented account of Virginia's adventures in war-torn France entitled Wolves at the Door: the True Story of America's Greatest Female Spy.

After the War, Virginia was in fact, hired by the CIA. At long last, her own country seemed to see what she could do!