MovieChat Forums > Ed Wood: Look Back in Angora Discussion > Storming Tarawa in women's underwear

Storming Tarawa in women's underwear

posted 17 years ago by nagmashdriver
3 replies | jump to latest

Yeah, yeah, I know. EVERY biography of Ed Wood makes special mention that Ed Wood stormed the beaches of Tarawa while wearing women's underwear (bra, too??) under his USMC uniform, and that he was scared of getting wounded because then the cat would be out of the bag.
I think this is just BS that Ed Wood made up for publicity purposes. Forget a crowded troopship; I never had an ounce of privacy while in the infantry, not even enough time or space to change clothes without someone else being within spitting distance. And I'm sure, given the horrific casualties that the Marines were taking on the Pacific Island invasions, the possibility of being wounded and therefore exposed was much too great to risk ridicule, not to mention a dishonorable discharge.

[–] rgcustomer 11 years ago

It could be that the men in his unit tolerated it, while still keeping it a secret from officers above him. As you note, WWII was a time of increased official disapproval of anything not perfectly straight, but I think in the actual battle, few would have cared. Some gay men of the time met their lovers in the army, so there certainly seemed to be ways for gender non-conformists to be themselves, at least some of the time.

[–] BugisStreetAnnie (1294) 7 years ago

I thought that too - and wondered that - because how would he be able to hide women's undies from everyone in the military. Closeted cross-dressers often say they will hide their clothes from their wife in the attic, but when you're moving around a lot like you would in the military how do you keep track of your panties and bra and not have anyone find them?

[–] MissMargoChanning (6630) 6 years ago

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I didn't buy any of that either. I also don't buy what rgcustomer says. Back then, a whole group of guys wouldn't protect him by keeping it from the officers. They'd be more likely to beat him up back then!