100 Years On, The 'Hello Girls' Are Recognized For World War I Heroics

"In a rehearsal space near New York's Times Square, the cast is preparing for the opening of a musical, The Hello Girls, that's been a century in the making."

"'Very few people have heard this story,' said Cara Reichel, director of the production that premieres off-Broadway on Nov. 13, two days after the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I."

"Reichel hadn't heard of the Hello Girls either, until a few years ago. Here's how she describes them:

'America's first women soldiers, the first women to serve actively in the military, who were bilingual French-English translators, who served on the front lines in World War I' as telephone operators."