With G.I.s overseas, the biggest attraction on radio is a pretty, breezy blonde with a high-school-fresh voice named Martha Wilkerson. Most U.S. civilians never heard of her—but from Kodiak to Canberra, Martha is a top G.I. favorite. Last week, with her 870th broadcast, Martha Wilkerson could boast of receiving one-fourth of all the fan mail inspired by the Armed Forces Radio Service's 122 air shows.
Recording six days a week in Los Angeles, Martha Wilkerson uses the aeronym, "G.I. Jill." Her transcriptions, flown out in six-day batches by A.F.R.S., are tenderly passed from one mosquito network to the next. The show also goes by short wave to Europe, Africa, Australia, the Aleutians, and war zones between and beyond. For good reason her closing line is: "Good morning to some of you, good afternoon to some more of you, and to the rest of you—good night."
G.L Jill's formula is simple: she plays jazz records by request, gives her fan-letter writers a little glib back talk, tells gags, babbles brightly on almost any subject. Sample opening to sailors: "Hiya, fellas. This is Jill again, all set to rock the bulkheads on the old jukebox and shoot the breeze to the sons of Mother Carey. . . ."
The response is tremendous. Servicemen shower her with grass skirts and invasion money; they cable money for yellow roses; they write that she is "romantic and groovey" and "my ideal." One fan, irresistibly reminded of his wife, requested that Jill simply say: "The mashed potatoes are ready."
G.I. Jill's show is an outgrowth of an OWI radio program begun in 1942 with her husband, ex-Radioman Mort Werner. As "Jack and Jill" they served up a mixture of jazz and banter called Hi, Neighbor. A.F.R.S. took over the program in the spring of 1943. Soon Jill (minus Jack) was doing a solo act called G.I. Jive (now AEF Jukebox).
As a War Department employe, Martha Wilkerson acts as a sort of counterirritant to "Tokyo Rose." Servicemen who listen regularly to both programs assure Jill that hers is superior. For one thing, Rose's records are mostly old and scratchy. But the explanation may be more basic. The fair flower of Tokyo exerts herself mightily to make U.S. servicemen homesick; G.I. Jill's trick is to make them feel at home.