June 1917. Arriving in France, General John Pershing found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls, speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire, and be utterly discreet. Well-trained American telephone operators were women-- who were not permitted to enlist. But the U.S. Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them. Grace Banker of New Jersey, Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman, and Valerie DeSmedt, a Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles, were sworn in to replace male soldiers. For these The switchboard soldiers worked as bombs fell around them-- as was the threat of a deadly new disease: the Spanish Flu. Not all would survive. - adapted from jacket