How is collaboration presented as an important theme in the book, Code Girls?

One of Mundy’s notable themes is how, in times of trial, the citizens of the nation come together. She emphasizes the collaborative nature of the primarily female code breakers and how eager Americans were to support war efforts and the military forces abroad. Everyone was affected by the conflict and knew a brother, father, son, or neighbor who was in the service. Mundy gives anecdotal information about families who go to great lengths to support the war effort, such as the Steen’s who were “saving grease from the bacon, giving away pots and pans to be made into tanks and guns” (7). Thus Fran Steen was delighted when she could go to Washington, D.C. and do her part to hopefully bring her brother home safe from war. When a Navy admiral wrote to Ada Comstock, president of Radcliffe College, she was pleased to be able to identify women who might facilitate the end of international conflict, as she wanted to be “serviceable” (13). Everyone wanted to help serve their country in this dire time and as women were not allowed in the military service, it was a boon that they were allowed to work behind the scenes in our nation’s Capital.