MARINE CORPS WOMEN'S RESERVE
IN WORLD WAR II
By
Lieutenant Colonel Pat Meid, USMCR
Printed 1964
Revised 1968
Historical Branch, G-3 Division
Headquarters, U. S. Marine Corps
1968
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20380
PREFACE
This brief history of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve in World War II is
derived from official records and appropriate published and manuscript
sources.
It is reprinted for the information of those interested in the wartime
organization, training, activities, and record of service of women who served
as Marines from 1943 - 1946.
R. G. OWENS, JR.
Brigadier General, U. S. Marine Corps
Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3
Reviewed and approved: 14 June 1968
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Original On-Line
Page Page
Foreword
Preface 4
Introduction....................................................1 7
I. Formation and Early History of the Women's Reserve...........2 8
Preliminary Planning--Early Strength
Estimates and Quotas--Selection of the
Director
II. Public Announcement and Early Recruiting...................7 13
Public Announcement--Name vs. Nickname--
The Enlistment Process
III. Training of the Women Reservists..........................13 19
Officer Training--Recruit Training--
Clothing Instructions--Transfer to New
River--Troop Trains--"Hometown" Platoons--
Training at Camp Lejeune--Specialist Training--
Promotion from the Ranks--Reserve Officer Class
IV. The Uniform...............................................23 29
Official Issue--Those Dress Whites!--
Special Uniform Class and Uniform Distribution--
Uniform Board and Regulations
V. Jobs and Job Assignments..................................28 34
Job Classification--Promotion--The buildup--
Jobs in Aviation--"Appropriateness" of Jobs--
The Philosophy of Hard Work
VI. Administration and Policies.............................36 42
Cooperation with the Women's Services--
Policy about Assignment and Housing
Assistants for the Women's Reserve--
Policy about Women's Authority--Changing
Policy on Marriage--Discipline and Morale
VII. People in the Program...................................42 48
The Women's Reserve Band--Quantico's Drill
Team--Personalities in the WRs--Other WR
Interests and Activities--Decorations
Awarded Women Marines
Original On-Line
Page Page
VIII. Hawaii Duty..........................................48 54
Selection of Women for Overseas Duty--
--Advance Party--Staging Area and Arrival
IX. Demobilization.......................................53 59
Computation of Credits--Strength at End of
the War--Monthly Quota for Demobilization--
Separation Centers--Last Days of the Wartime
Reserve
X. Overview.............................................58 64
Civilian Background--Reaction to Military
Life--Personal Benefit--Educational Back-
ground--Regional Pattern of Enlistments--
Composition of Reserve by Age and Test Scores--
--Recruiting Results and Media Used--Overall
Distribution by Rank--"VIP" Statements about
Wartime Reserve
Notes..........................................................66 72
Appendix A. Jobs in which Women Marines Were
Assigned During World War II......................85 91
Appendix B. Composition of the Women's Reserve:
By Education......................................88 94
Appendix C. Composition of the Women's Reserve:
By State of Residence.............................89 95
Appendix D. Composition of Women's Reserve:
By Age............................................90 96
Appendix E. Composition of Women's Reserve:
By General Classification Test Scores.............91 97
Appendix F. Key Dates in the History of Women
Marines...........................................92 98
Appendix G. Biographies of Wartime Directors, Marine
Corps Women's Reserve.............................95 101
MARINE CORPS WOMEN'S RESERVE
IN WORLD WAR II
By
LtCol Pat Meid, USMCR
INTRODUCTION
"What! Women Marines! Quit your kidding."
That was the first reaction of a group of Marines newly-freed from a
prison camp in the Philippines in February 1945. Eagerly they sought news
from the combat correspondents about what had been going on in the Marine
Corps since their capture in the early days of the war. The released men
could hardly believe it. Women in the Marine Corps? What did they do? How
did they dress? What were they like? Were they pretty?
Women in military uniform were a novelty to much of the rest of the world
in the beginning of World War II, not only in this country, but in Canada and
England as well. In the United States, more than 265,000 women served in all
branches of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines. The Marine Corps
Women's Reserve (MCWR) was established by law as a part of the Marine Corps
Reserve by the amendment of 30 July 1942 to the U.S. Naval Reserve Act of
1938. The mission of the MCWR was to provide women trained and qualified for
duty in the shore establishments of the Marine Corps, thereby releasing
additional male Marines for combat duty.
In February 1943, the month that the Women's Reserve was formed, American
forces wiped out the final enemy opposition on Guadalcanal. The bitter
fighting there made it readily apparent that far more Marines would be needed
in the combat zones for the grinding battles that would only slowly clear the
way to victory.
If the women caused innovations and creation of new traditions in the
Corps, the effect of the Corps on them was no less profound. It was found
that there are no differences between men and women in respect to their fierce
pride in the Marine Corps and that special "Once a Marine, always a Marine"
brand of loyalty. Years after the war, the story is told of a motorist on his
way into the Marine Base at Quantico, who stopped at the Iwo Jima statue and
picked up a little boy about nine years old. He glanced at the youngster
sideways as he drove along, noticing that the boy wore a Marine Corps emblem
on his cap.
1
"Is your father a Marine, son?" he asked conversationally.
"No sir," replied the boy. Then he added proudly, "But my mother
was."
This is the story of those World War II Women Marines--why they were
there, the varied jobs they did, and their contribution to the war effort.
I. Formation and Early History of the Women's Reserve
On 7 November 1942, just three days before the 167th birthday of the
Marine Corps, the Commandant signed a document that would bring about a great
change in the life of the Corps during the years ahead. He gave his official
approval to the formation of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, a movement that
resulted in more than 20,000 women serving in this ruggedly male outfit during
the next three years and releasing urgently-needed male Marines for combat
duty. Marine Corps Headquarters quickly and quietly went about setting up the
policies and procedures needed to effect the innovation. Official
announcement, however, was not made to the American public until three months
later--on 13 February 1943. The Marine Corps had sought to avoid premature
announcement before plans were completely developed, as it was felt this would
not be in the best interests of the new Women's Reserve.
Actually, the Marine Corps was the last of the four services to organize
a women's reserve in World War II.<1> This was no happenstance. It was
generally well-known that the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Lieutenant
General Thomas Holcomb, had been against the formation of a Women's Reserve in
the Marine Corps at the time the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the
Navy's Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) were first
organized. As he later commented, less than a year after the Women Marines
had come aboard: "Like most other Marines, when the matter first came up I
didn't believe women could serve any useful purpose in the Marine Corps...
Since then I've changed my mind."<2>
Strangely enough, there had been a precedent for women in the Marine
Corps. In World War I, a group of 305 intrepid young women had worn the
forest green uniform with its famous globe and anchor insignia and had held
private, corporal, and sergeant ratings. They had performed their clerical
jobs, mostly at Headquarters, with dispatch and loyalty and had served under
the traditional no-nonsense Marine Corps discipline which decreed that any
infractions on their part would result in their being "summarily
disenrolled."<3> They had even been instructed in the "simpler drill
movements...before nine o'clock on the ellipse in Potomac Park," under the
watchful eye of a Marine NCO, and had also participated in victory parades.<4>
2
Rightly, however, when the matter of a Women's Reserve was discussed as a
serious possibility in the Second World War, General Holcomb knew that
admission of Women Marines this time would be on a scale and magnitude
previously undreamed of. It would create hundreds of new questions and
problems, all of which had to be answered.
Preliminary Planning
The decision to admit women to the Marine Corps was made as a result of
studies prepared by the M-1 section of the Division of Plans and Policies at
Marine Corps Headquarters. Originally, the matter had been discussed months
earlier but, because of the Commandant's feeling, had been dropped. When it
became apparent that such a move would release large numbers of
urgently-needed combat personnel, the question was reopened and restudied.
On 5 October 1942, Plans and Policies recommended establishment of a
Women's Reserve and suggested to the Commandant that it be set up as a
separate section within the Division of Reserve.<5>
The Commandant concurred with the recommendation, and on 12 October wrote
the Secretary of the Navy that "in furtherance of the war effort, it was
believed that as many women as possible should be used in noncombatant
billets, thus releasing a greater number of the limited manpower available for
essential combat duty."<6> He cited Public Law 689, 77th Congress, approved
30 July 1942, which amended the Naval Reserve Act of 1938 by adding a section
titled "Women's Reserve" and provided that it should be part of the Naval
Reserve.
First endorsement of the Commandant's letter, on 26 October by the Judge
Advocate General's office, approved this legal authority and read: "The
creation of a Women's Reserve which shall be a branch of the United States
Marine Corps Reserve appears to be fully authorized by the law. The specific
proposals of the Commandant of the Marine Corps as contained in the basic
communication have been examined in this office and it is considered that they
legally be approved."<7>
The second endorsement on 30 October from the Commander in Chief, United
States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations was similarly favorable.
"Forwarded, recommending approval," it read in time-honored official naval
language.<8>
Final authority for creation of the Women's Reserve was received from
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on 31 October and President Franklin D.
Roosevelt on 7 November. This authorized an initial strength of 500 officers
and 6,000
3
enlisted by 30 June 1943, with total strength by 30 June 1944 of 1,000
officers and 18,000 enlisted.<9>
Distribution of rank and grade was the same as that authorized for the
men of the Marine Corps. Based on the number of women to be enlisted, the
distribution in rank of officers was specified as: 1 major, 35 captains, 35
percent of the total number of commissioned officers to be in the grade of
first lieutenant, and the balance, to be second lieutenants.<10> The
determination of the highest rank to be held by a member of the Marine Corps
Women's Reserve was based on the language of Public Law 689, which provided
for one officer with the grade of lieutenant commander for the Women's Reserve
of the United States Naval Reserve, whose counterpart in the Marine Corps
would hold the rank of major.<11> Later amendments to the law advanced the
rank of the senior woman in each naval service to captain (Navy and Coast
Guard) - colonel (Marine Corps).
Early Strength Estimates and Quotas
The first definite step toward physically establishing the Women's
Reserve was taken 5 November, when the Commandant wrote the commanding
officers of all Marine posts and procurement districts. He announced that the
Marine Corps was "initiating steps to organize a Women's Reserve" and directed
all officers to survey the activities under their jurisdiction and report the
number of Women Reservists (WRs) who could be used to replace officers and men
in such categories as clerical, communications, transportation, mess and
commissary, mechanical, and so forth. He explained that "within the next year
the manpower shortage will be such that it will be incumbent on all concerned
with the national welfare to replace men by women in all possible
positions."<12>
From the figures submitted by posts and stations, projections were made
of the number of women who would require special training in such fields as
Paymaster, Quartermaster, and Communications, as well as estimates of those
WRs who could effectively use the skills they brought to the Marine Corps from
civilian life. Quotas were also established for recruiting of enlisted women
and officers and tentative dates selected for the beginning training
classes.<13>
Although the Marine Corps was authorized a strength of only 6,500 women
by 30 June 1943, this preliminary survey indicated that more than 4,000 were
needed at once. The number of WRs
4
originally requested at Marine Corps-stations were:
Quantico, Virginia 692
Cherry Point, North Carolina 688
Camp Lejeune, New River,
North Carolina 726
San Diego, California 650
Camp Elliott, California 981
Camp Pendleton, California 416
Parris Island, South Carolina 278
4,431 <14>
Selection of the Director
Considerable preliminary planning had to be done to facilitate successful
recruiting, training, administration, and uniforming of the new Women's
Reserve. But probably the most important task confronting the Division of
Reserve was selection of a director for the new reserve component. The
Commandant made no bones about the fact that the success of the new Women's
Reserve would depend largely on the caliber and capabilities of the woman
chosen for the post of Director, Marine Corps Women's Reserve. Accordingly,
in November he wrote Dean Virginia C. Gildersleeve, of Barnard College,
Columbia University, to enlist her help.
"It is my understanding that in the selection of the woman to head up the
WAVES, the Navy availed itself of the advice of the Advisory Educational
Council, of which you are chairman," he wrote. "If it is not too much of an
imposition, the Marine Corps would be glad if your council could undertake a
similar service for it." General Holcomb stressed the point that it was not
the intentions of the Marine Corps to dictate any method in the choice of
candidates--whether decided upon by subcommittee or other means. "We are only
interested in procuring the services of some woman who is qualified for a
commission as a Major in the Marine Corps and to assume the parallel position
to Miss McAfee [Lieutenant Commander Mildred McAfee, Director of the WAVES],"
he explained.<15>
Shortly thereafter, Dean Gildersleeve and her committee presented a
recommendation of 12 outstanding women, and the Marine Corps began making
discreet inquiries as to their capabilities. Personal interviews of the
various candidates were conducted by Colonel Littleton W. T. Waller, Jr.,
Director of Reserve, under whose office the new Women's Reserve was to be
placed for administrative purposes. Colonel Waller and his right-hand man,
Major C. Brewster Rhoads, toured the country to interview prospective
candidates personally. Their recommendations ultimately led to selection of
Mrs. Ruth Cheney Streeter, 47, of Morristown, New Jersey.
5
President of her class at Bryn Mawr College; the mother of four grown
children, including three service sons (two in the Navy, one in the Army); for
more than 20 years active in New Jersey health and welfare work; and a
spirited woman who only a year or so earlier had taken out both her private
and commercial pilot's licenses; Mrs. Streeter seemed to have the right
combination of personal characteristics and organizational abilities that
would be required of a Woman Marine Director.<16>
Prior to public announcement of the new Women's Reserve, Mrs. Streeter
was quietly commissioned a major, USMCWR, on 29 January 1943 and sworn in by
Secretary of the Navy Knox. She was not, however, the first woman to go on
active duty in the Women's Reserve in World War II. Earlier that month, Mrs.
Anne A. Lentz was sworn in as the first commissioned officer, with the rank of
captain. (A civilian clothing expert who had helped outfit the WAACs, she had
originally come to the Marine Corps Headquarters in December on a 30-day
assignment to design the uniform for the Marines and wound up by wearing one
herself.)<17>
In respect to procurement and training, existing facilities of the WAVES
were to be used as much as possible. This was spelled out in a joint letter
from the Chief of Naval Personnel and the Commandants of the Marine Corps and
the Coast Guard to the Secretary of the Navy. Since the Women's Reserve of
both the Marine Corps and Coast Guard were also part of the Naval
Establishment, it was officially recommended that their members be procured
through the Office of Naval Officer Procurement and be trained "insofar as it
is practical" in schools already established for members of the WAVES.<18>
In February 1943 there were six other women who, like Major Streeter and
Captain Lentz, had been directly commissioned from civilian life before actual
public announcement of the Women's Reserve. All were selected because their
abilities and experience fitted them for key Marine Corps billets which had to
be filled at once--such as recruiting and training. Commissioned without any
formal indoctrination, they went on duty immediately at Marine Corps
Headquarters with their new rank and in civilian clothes.
These early Women Marines were:
Women's Reserve representative for Public Relations--First Lieutenant E.
Louise Stewart;
Women's Reserve representative for Training--Captain Charlotte D. Gower;
Women's Reserve representative for Classification and Detail--Captain
Cornelia D. T. Williams;
6
Women's Reserve representative for West Coast Activities--Captain Lillian
O'Malley Daly;
Women's Reserve representative for Recruit Depot--Captain Katherine A.
Towle; and
Women's Reserve Assistant to the Director--Captain Helen C. O'Neill.<19>
II. Public Announcement and Recruiting
Although the last-organized of the four women's wartime services, three
important factors were in the Women Marines' favor from the start.
First: That the Marines freely shared their own name, a proud name that
had witnessed 168 years of tradition and esprit. Thus, they became the only
women's service which didn't have an alphabetical designation or semi-official
nickname.
Second: That the Women's Reserve was accepted as a full-fleged part of
the Marine Corps and was not an "auxiliary" service.
Third: That the men's distinctive forest green uniform was followed
closely, with requisite feminizing modifications for the Women Marines. This
like the name, made the women feel they were being accepted on an equal basis
in the Corps, rather than as an auxiliary, and they worked twice as hard to
make sure they rated being called "good Marines."
Colonel Waller, Director of Reserve, in a recommendation to the
Commandant, a month before announcement of the Women's Reserve was made to the
public, declared:
"Women Reservists of the U. S. Marine Corps will not be especially
designated as in the case of, "WAVES" or "SPARS,"' but will be called Marines.
It is proposed that they will be uniformed in the forest green of the Marine
Corps with suitable differences being made in the material and in the cut of
the uniform to conform to the convenience and smart appearance of women, but
sufficiently like the Marine Corps uniform to permit no possibility of doubt
as to the branch of service to which the Women Reservists are attached."<20>
7
Public Announcement
The first official announcement of the Women's Reserve was made on 13
February 1943, and the Navy procurement offices throughout the country which
were charged with the duty of enlistment suddenly found themselves swamped
with women who wanted to be Marines. In the nation's capital, more than 100
filed applications the first two days after enlistments opened and caused one
recruiting officer to complain that the overload of applicants was causing his
office staff to "get behind in their work."<21> Applicants ranged all the way
from Mrs. Otho L. Rogers, of Washington, D. C., and Mrs. Henry T. Elrod, of
Coronado, California, both widows of Marine majors recently killed in combat,
to schoolgirls, office workers, grandmothers, and college students.<22>
Enthusiasm ran so high that a number of women even tried to enlist on the
Saturday the initial announcement was made, even though enlistments were not
supposed to be officially open until the following Monday. The records show
that some of them succeeded. The distinction of being the first World War II
Woman Marine (other than the handful of officers direct-commissioned before
public announcement) went to Lucille E. McClarren, of Nemahcolin,
Pennsylvania, who enlisted in Washington, D. C. on 13 February.<23>
Eligibility requirements for both enlisted and officers were:
United States citizenship; not married to a Marine, either single or
married but with no children under 18; height - not less than 60 inches;
weight - not less than 95 pounds; good vision and teeth.<24>
For enlisted or "general service," as it was called, the age requirement
was from 20 to 35 inclusive, and a candidate was required to have at least two
years of high school.<25>
For officer candidates, requirements were originally the same as for
WAVES and SPARS: age from 20 to 49 inclusive; either a college graduate, or
with a combination of two years of college and two years of work
experience.<26>
From the very beginning, it was a problem for the Marine Corps to cope
adequately with the stream of volunteers. Through courtesy of the WAVES, the
Navy Department made a unique and generous offer: some of its own officers,
currently undergoing training, would transfer to the Marine Corps to help with
recruiting, if the Marine Corps so desired. The Marine Corps, sorely pressed
for personnel, was happy to reply "Yes!" A
8
number of WAVES volunteered, and a group of 19 was selected, since the Marine
Corps had 19 procurement offices throughout the country. These 19 ex-WAVES
were sworn in as new Marines and went on the job immediately to recruit Women
Marines. Ironically, they still wore their WAVE uniforms, as the first Marine
Corps uniforms were not yet available.<27>
Throughout those early hectic months there was, inevitable, much "trial
by error" and the type of resourceful improvisation that has always been the
hallmark of the Marine Corps. Some Marine officers, for example, in the large
cities, who were severely pressed for additional help in the mountain of
paperwork inherent in enlisting large numbers of women, wrote to Headquarters
requesting authority to enlist capable civilian women as Marines to work in
their own offices. The women would go on duty immediately to help out in the
critical overload of work, and would receive their actual indoctrination as
Women Marines later. These requests were granted in many cases.<28>
Minimum age for a prospective member in the Women's Reserve had been set
by Congress in its 1942 amendment to the Naval Reserve Law and remained
unchanged throughout the war. It was, nevertheless, a matter which aroused
considerable agitation on the part of younger women, and both the White House
and the Director received numerous letters on the subject. In one instance,
an articulate young lady, representing a group of nearly twenty 18- and
19-year-old girls from Springfield, Ohio, wrote a highly persuasive letter to
Major Streeter, asking the logic in a ruling which permitted 18-year-old boys
to defend their country, even at the supreme sacrifice, when the girls could
not. Another enterprising young woman from Avonmore, Pennsylvania, who
obviously was well-versed in her facts, pointed out that in the last war girls
18- and 19-years old were allowed to enlist in the Marines and girls not quite
18 could join with their parents' consent. "If girls 17 were allowed to enroll
in the last war," she asked Mrs. Roosevelt, "could it be possible for a girl
19 to enroll in the Marines today?"<29>
A number of parents also wrote to ask if their daughters could enlist,
even though not yet the required age of 20. One such request came from a
World War I holder of the Distinguished Service Cross. In January 1943, prior
to actual formation of the Women's Reserve, he wrote the Commandant:
"I know this is no time to reminisce, but I do want to bring this to your
attention. I am the Marine from 96th Company, Sixth Regiment, who was with
Lieutenant [Clifton B.] Cates and a few other Marines that captured
Bouresches, France, and I turned over the first German prisoner and machine
gun to you that our battalion captured on the night of 6 June 1918.
9
"I have a big request to ask....As I have no sons to give to the Marines,
I would be more than happy if you....would recommend my daughter to the newly-
formed Marines Women Reserve Corps. While I appreciate that her age may be a
little young, she will be 18 this June....I feel sure she could fit into your
program.... surely this is not too much for a D. S. C. ex-Marine to ask of
you.... "<30>
The minimum age limit of 20 years for women members of the Naval Reserve
had been established by law, however, and so it remained. Persons writing
such letters were thanked for their interest in the Marine Corps, with the
suggestion being made that the girl reapply later when she became the proper
age.
Name vs. Nickname
The public took great interest in every detail about the new organization
and freely submitted trick names for the new Women's Reserve even before the
time it was officially formed. Unsolicited suggestions came from Congressmen
and private citizen alike. Typical "names" included MARS, Femarines, even the
unwieldy Women's Leather-neck Aides.<31>
However, the firm decision had been made that the Women Reservists would
be called simply "Marines." As the Director of Reserve, Colonel Waller, wrote
to Representative Louis Ludlow of Indiana: "...these women will not be
auxiliary but members of the Marine Corps Reserve which is an integral part of
the Corps and as....they will be performing many duties of Marines it was felt
they should be so known."<32>
The Enlistment Process
Candidates both for officer and recruit (boot) training were enlisted by
naval procurement offices in each of the four major procurement districts into
which the country was divided. New enlistees were placed on "inactive duty"
while their applications and supporting papers were processed by Marine Corps
Headquarters and then notified of the training class, whether boot or officer,
to which they were assigned. The women were designated as either Class VI (a)
officer or Class VI (b) enlisted. (Previously established male categories of
the Reserve were: Class I - Fleet Marine Corps Reserve; Class II - Organized
Marine Corps Reserve; Class III - Volunteer Marine Corps Reserve; Class IV -
Limited Service Marine Corps Reserve; and Class V - Specialist Volunteer
Marine Corps Reserve.)<33>
10
A prospective applicant, regardless of classification, had to submit a
physical statement by her own physician; fill out and return the application
to the recruiting station; take an aptitude test and complete physical; and
have a personal interview with the Officer-in-Charge. He in turn submitted a
statement of opinion as to the woman's capabilities and value to the service.
Final decision on whether or not to accept a particular candidate was made by
Headquarters Marine Corps. In some cases, an otherwise well-qualified
candidate was permitted a waiver for a physical or educational requirement she
lacked.
The traditional selectivity of the Marine Corps was in evidence at once.
Indication of its high standards is seen in the fact that the Marine Corps
Reserve Reviewing Board at Headquarters rejected approximately 25 percent of
the applicants for officers candidates' class whose applications were
forwarded from the procurement offices.<34> Public response to recruiting was
eminently satisfactory. Summarizing the first month's progress of the new
women's service, Colonel Waller commented:
"The women of the country have responded in just the manner we expected
....Thousands of women have volunteered to serve in the Women's Reserve and
from them we have already selected more than 1,000 for the enlisted ranks and
over 100 as officers."<35>
This was a good record when it is remembered that the WR goal was only
6,000 enlisted and 500 officers by 1 July, the maximum number that could be
enrolled up to that time.
Some of the interest of the nation's women was undoubtedly stirred by the
nationwide trip which Major Streeter made during the first month of the
Women's Reserve. She visited 16 major cities from coast to coast, as well as
the Marine Corps posts where her women would shortly be serving. She spoke
before a number of large public gatherings, including women's clubs and
college assemblies, and everywhere found a "spontaneous enthusiasm among women
for the new women's service organization."<36> Indeed, so ambitious was her
schedule of speaking engagements that at one point her voice gave out!<37>
Returning to Washington on 26 March from the first of what would be many trips
to the field, she commented: "The privilege of swearing in many enlistees gave
me an opportunity to observe the young women joining our ranks. I found them
to be most sincere, intelligent, and attractive representatives of American
young womanhood."<38>
Enlistments in the Women's Reserve during its first eight weeks totaled
2,495. Of that number, 28 were on active duty; 211 were enrolled in officer
candidates' class; and the rest were either in recruit training or awaiting
orders to active duty. During this first two months of its existence,
11
nearly one-seventh of the total enlisted strength and more than one-quarter of
the future officers were enrolled.<39>
In at least one place the recruiting was going so well that it occasioned
this cautioning remark from the procurement officer-in-charge: "While it is
not properly a concern of this office, it is felt that the Division of Reserve
might well consider decreasing the overall publicity given to the women's
program since the number of applications far exceeds the authorized quotas. It
is considered to be bad public relations by this office when unavoidable
circumstances necessitate turning away many desirable and well-qualified
applicants who have been encouraged to believe that their enlistment could be
effected."<40>
Despite the problems inherent in such an undertaking, by July 1943
sufficient female personnel had been trained so that it was possible to
transfer all enlistment procedures from the naval procurement offices to
Marine recruiters, who from then on handled the enrollment of the women as
they had been doing right along in the case of the men. As always, physical
examinations were the responsibility of the Navy.<41>
By 1 November 1943, the number of officers and enlisted personnel sworn
into the service totaled more than 11,000--less than 1,000 short of the 12,000
member quota set for 1 January 1944. Of this number, approximately 8,500 had
been classified and were on duty. In February 1944, one short year after its
formation, the strength of the Women's Reserve totaled nearly 15,000. A year
earlier, the organization had consisted of four officers; now, it numbered
approximately 800 officers and 14,000 enlisted women, and was well within
sight of its final recruiting goal.<42>
Observed the Director in May 1944: "...it is anticipated that by 31 May
the Marine Corps Women's Reserve will have reached its total authorized
strength. Although our quota is much smaller than those of the WACs (Women's
Army Corps) or WAVES, the fact still remains that though we were the last of
the women's military services to be organized, we are the first to succeed in
enlisting all the women we can presently use. Furthermore, we reached our
goal in two and a half months less time than we expected. The original plan
called for recruiting to start on 1 January 1943 and proceed at the rate of
1,000 per month until 30 June 1944. Actually, we did not start until 15
February 1943 and reached our quota on 31 May 1944, thus accomplishing our
mission in 15 1/2 months instead of 18."<43>
12
III. Training of the Women Reservists
In addition to its assistance with recruiting, the Navy also offered the
use of its training facilities for both officers and enlisted personnel in the
early organizational stages of the Women's Reserve. This helped the Women
Marines get off to a good start. Had it been necessary for the Marine Corps
to train its own staff for its women's schools before they could begin to
operate, there would have been a delay of several months in putting the women
to work for the Marine Corps and releasing men for combat duty. Classes for
officers and enlisted women both began in March 1943, at Mount Holyoke College
and Hunter College, respectively.
Officer Training
On 13 March 1943, exactly a month after initial public announcement of
the Woman's Reserve, the first class of 71 officer candidates entered the U.
S. Naval Midshipmen's School (WR), Northampton, Massachusetts, to begin its
training with the WAVES. The U. S. Naval Midshipmen's School comprised the
facilities of both Smith College, at Northampton, and Mount Holyoke, in nearby
South Hadley. Marine candidates received their training primarily at the
latter.<44> Included in the class were representatives of a variety of fields
of civilian life--including educators, scientists, secretaries, and women from
other businesses and professions.<45>
Marine officer candidates followed the same course of instruction as the
WAVES for the first half of their training, approximately four weeks. This
included Naval Organization and Administration, Naval Personnel, Naval History
and Strategy, Naval Law and Justice, Ships and Aircraft. Instruction in the
second part, or advanced indoctrination, was separate from the WAVES. This
consisted of Marine Corps subjects given by Marine Corps instructors. The
curriculum included Marine Corps Administration and Courtesies; Map Reading;
Interior Guard; Safeguarding Military Information; and Physical Training. As
with all Marine recruits, throughout both phases of the entire course, the
women were schooled rigorously by male Marine drill instructors, who had been
transferred from the Parris Island Recruit Depot to Mount Holyoke for this
purpose.<46>
On 6 April, members of the first class received their silver OC pins,
which marked their promotion to officer cadet status. This was a
specially-created category, authorized by the Secretary of the Navy, to
correspond to the status and pay rating of their contemporaries in the WAVES.
Since Navy candidates went through their training as midshipmen, it was
13
felt desirable for members of the two groups to have equal standing.<47>
Successful candidates received their commissions on 4 May, a little over seven
weeks after they had entered. The second candidates' class began its training
on 10 April and the third class, in early May. Altogether a total of 214
Women Marines completed officer training at Mount Holyoke, with a new class
entering each month.<48>
Administratively, the Marine training unit had the comparable status of a
Marine detachment aboard ship. The women had their own commanding officer who
was responsible for discipline, as well as for coordinating instruction in
drill and academic subjects with that of the school. The Marine candidates
were organized into separate companies and were under the immediate command of
an officer of the regular Marine Corps, Major E. Hunter Hurst. But the WR
detachment itself was part of the WAVES school complement, under final
authority of the commanding officer of the Midshipmen's School.<49>
All officer candidates enlisted as privates. At the end of their
preliminary four-week training period, women considered not qualified for
appointment as cadets had the option of either being transferred to Hunter
College for completion of basic training, or of being ordered to their homes
and inactive status in the reserve district to wait ultimate discharge from
the Marine Corps. Cadets who, upon completion of their training, were not
recommended for commissioned rank, submitted their resignations to the
Commandant via official channels and were subsequently discharged. If they
wanted to reenlist as a private, they could do so, provided they were not over
age for enlistment.<50>
Recruit Training
Two weeks after the first officer class began its training, the first
class of 722 enlisted women entered Hunter College, The Bronx, New York or, as
it was officially known, the U. S. Naval Training School (WR). Due to the
size of the group, its members were ordered to arrive over a three-day period,
24-26 March, in three equal daily contingents.<51> The "boots" were billeted
in nearby apartment houses and began their instruction with the WAVES on 26
March.
The administrative set-up was similar to Mount Holyoke but vastly larger.
Although part of the host Navy organization, the Marine recruits were
organized into separate companies, each headed by a male Marine officer and
combined into a battalion, under command of an officer of the regular Marine
Corps, Major William W. Buchanan. The first class was divided into 21
platoons of approximately 35 women each.<52>
14
A senior woman officer, Captain Katharine A. Towle, was a member of Major
Buchanan's staff from the beginning. Other women officers were added to it
after the first officer candidates' class was commissioned. A group of 33
instructors, including 10 officers and 23 enlisted, comprised the major's
staff. They instructed the women in both Marine Corps and general subjects,
the curriculum being similar to that of Mount Holyoke. In addition, there
were 15 to 20 sharp-eyed drill instructors to supervise the close-order drill
of all the women in the training school, both WAVES and Marines.<53>
Included in the first group of enlisted women were many stenographers and
secretaries, telephone operators, two motor mechanics, laboratory technicians,
an acetylene welder, a commercial artist, a parachute maker, woodcraft
workers, and others representing a wide variety of occupations and civilian
skills.<54>
The first class was graduated 25 April 1943, in a little over four weeks'
time. Subsequent classes entered every two weeks, and numbered some 525
recruits each. Indoctrination lasted approximately four weeks, but individual
classes varied from three-and-a-half to five weeks because of the need to
coordinate schedules with the WAVES. Between 26 March and 10 July, six
recruit classes entered and a total of 3,280 women Marines were graduated.
Despite the intensity and fast pace of the training, attrition--about two
percent--was quite low.<55>
Clothing Instructions
Members of both the first candidates' class and recruit class went
through half their training in civilian clothes. Uniforms were issued in the
latter part of April, as soon as they became available in quantity. Detailed
instructions issued to prospective WRs before they left home for training had
spelled out clearly the clothes they should bring with them, including two
pair of comfortable dark brown, laced oxfords. "Experience has proven that
drilling tends to enlarge the feet," the mimeographed instructions stated
matter-of-factly. In addition to the list of necessary clothing, all trainees
were sharply warned not to leave home without orders; not to arrive before the
exact time and date stamped on their official papers; and not to forget their
ration cards.<56>
Transfer to New River
By the early summer of 1943, the Marine Corps had readied its own
schools. Although it was originally under the orders to use existing
facilities of the Navy insofar as was practical for procurement and training,
the size of the classes both at Hunter and Mount Holyoke dictated the need for
larger facilities.
15
In July 1943, the fifth month of the Women's Reserve, both the officer
candidates' class and recruit depot were transferred to Camp Lejeune, New
River, North Carolina. Together with the specialists' schools, which had been
in operation at New River since May, they comprised the Marine Corps Women's
Reserve Schools. Here, nearly 19,000 women took their training throughout the
remainder of the war.
The third class of officer candidates was commissioned at Mount Holyoke
on 29 June. The combined battalion of WAVES and Marines passed in review
before Major Streeter, Lieutenant Commander McAfee, Director of the WAVES, and
Brigadier General Keller E. Rockey, USMC, Director of the Division of Plans
and Policies at Headquarters. Commented Major Streeter: The candidates
presented an excellent battalion review conducted entirely by themselves
without any men officers on the field. They made a very good impression in all
ways and left Mount Holyoke with good feeling between themselves and the Navy
and the college."<57>
Possibly the satisfactory experience at Mount Holyoke was due partly to
another factor. Its president was an ex-Marine! As the Marine Corps later
wrote in a letter of appreciation to Dr. Roswell G. Hamm: "Your continual
willingness to assist in the formation of policies and to contribute to the
comfort of the Marine Corps personnel at Mount Holyoke were largely
responsible for the high morale and fine esprit de corps of our officer
candidates. Your experience as a former Marine made you keenly aware of the
vital importance of the work to be done by the Women's Reserve."<58>
Tuesday, 29 June, was also the day that members of the fourth class were
promoted to rank of cadet. On Thursday, approximately 70 members of the
training class and the staff departed in a troop movement to Camp Lejeune,
arriving two days later. Training was resumed on 5 July and the class
graduated on 7 August. The fifth class reported directly to Camp Lejeune on
15 July as did all candidates' classes thereafter.<59> Meanwhile, at Hunter
College, the current class of enlisted women completed its training in early
July. The tenth class reported directly to Camp Lejeune on 12 July and
graduated on 15 August. Thereafter, a class of approximately 550 women
entered every two weeks and graduated about five and a half weeks later, in
accordance with previously established schedules. Three classes were in
training simultaneously.<60>
The new location and consolidation of training was welcomed by all,
students and administrative staff alike. It enabled a far more thorough
Marine Corps indoctrination than had been possible before and permitted later
classes of enlisted women to receive detailed instructions in various
administrative procedures needed on their day-to-day jobs.
16
A highlight of all Women Marines' training, initiated after the move to
New River, were the field demonstrations in which the women witnessed actual
use of mortars, bazookas, flamethrowers, amphibian tractors, landing craft,
hand-to-hand combat, camouflage, even war dogs. Picked teams of male Marines
presented these special demonstrations in half-day sessions. "By showing the
women what the men faced whom they had released for combat, their pride in the
Corps was increased and they saw clearly their own part in it," the Director
of the Women's Reserve later observed.<62> Since no other women's military
service had such real-life battle demonstrations, it was understandable that
their members were somewhat envious of this aspect of the WR's training!<63>
Actually, the first tentative step toward what was later to become the
field demonstrations had occurred informally less than a month after training
began. A personal letter received by recently promoted Brigadier General
Waller from Major Hurst, Commanding Officer of the Marine Training Detachment
at the Midshipmen's School in South Hadley had stated, in part:
"In drawing these up [training schedules ordered by Marine Corps
Headquarters] I found myself wishing more and more that we could include some
weapons instructions, at least pistol, for our women....I have found that the
women come into the Marine Corps expecting to learn to shoot and I, of course,
would like to see them become the first women's reserve in the country to take
up the specialty of their men if Headquarters considers the idea at all
feasible. I wouldn't have had the nerve to suggest it if Mrs. Franklin D.
Roosevelt hadn't asked me on her visit last week how soon they were going to
learn to shoot. She expressed surprise at learning that the women of the U.
S. were not learning as much about weapons as the women of other
countries...."<64>
Weapons demonstrations took another big step forward in a memorandum
drafted 12 June 1943 by Major Streeter discussing the proposed, curricula for
the Marine Corps Women's Reserve Schools to open the following month in New
River. She noted that the indoctrination of both training classes of women
contained lectures on combat equipment, landing operations, tactics, parachute
troops, and amphibian tractors. If it is possible to arrange transportation
and schedules that would not interrupt the training of the men in these lines
of work, I believe it would be a definite inspiration to the Marine Corps
Women's Reserve to see them actually in training," she wrote.<65> The
Director's suggestion was approved, and the modification in the women's
training was considered to be highly advantageous by all concerned.
17
Troop Trains
Lessons in Marine Corps style efficiency and order were learned even
before new recruits arrived at Camp Lejeune. They were brought to New River
on all-Marine trains---all-Women-Marine trains. Numbering approximately 500
girls, the mass troop movement was directed by a woman lieutenant, with two
enlisted women as assistants. Commented one recruit: "We started right out
learning military procedure and discipline at the railroad station. The WRs
lined us up, bag and baggage, and marched us aboard the train."<66>
Once at Camp Lejeune, boots observed the strict rules governing male
recruits at the Parris Island and San Diego boot camps. Every minute of the
day was accounted for, and no liberty was granted during the six-week
indoctrination.<67> Training got underway the minute the women arrived.
Speedy assignment to billets in the neat red brick barracks in Area One, set
aside for the exclusive use of the women's schools, was followed by
orientation classes; issue of uniforms; close order drill, beginning the day
after arrival; and classification tests and interviews to assess a woman's
abilities, education, training, and business experience. Strict discipline
and tight schedules worked their invariable magic. Before long it seemed a
perfectly normal routine to get up at 0545, fall in formation at 0630, eat at
0645, attend classes from 0800 to 1130, march to lunch, and spend until 1600
daily in classes or drill.
Despite constant emphasis on discipline, proper military phraseology and
customs, even the best-intentioned WR sometimes made mistakes, often ingenuous
ones with a decidedly feminine twist. There's the story of the Woman Marine
who became flustered upon passing an officer on the street and got her
instructions mixed. Instead of saluting and saying, "By your leave, sir," she
saluted and said "Leave me by, sir."<68>
In another instance, a woman student platoon leader tried in vain to give
her marching troops the order of execution on the correct foot. With her
platoon marching along, she decided to compose herself for a minute to make
double sure. Suddenly, dead ahead of the column, a tree loomed up. Her
command rang out strong and clear: "Around the tree....MARCH!"<69>
"Hometown" Platoons
A month after the organization of the Women's Reserve, an officer in the
Southern Recruiting District had queried Headquarters: "...we are making plans
for the formation of a platoon of Women Marines to be sworn in jointly and
sent to training as a group. This has been done successfully with male
Marines in the past. If there is any objection to this, please wire
immediately."<70>
18
Not only was there no objection from Headquarters, but the idea was
picked up by other recruiting officials and cities. Although Atlanta appears
to have been the city where the idea was originally conceived for the hometown
platoons, it was the city of Philadelphia, birthplace of the Marine Corps back
in the days of the Revolution, that produced the first WR platoon to be sent
to camp as an entity. This occurred in early September 1943 and rated a
telegram of congratulations and "Welcome Aboard" from Major Streeter.<71>
The 168th observance of the Marine Corps birthday on 10 November was the
occasion for the swearing in en masse of both the first Pittsburgh platoon as
well as the Potomac Platoon of Women Marines of Washington, D. C. The latter
ceremony took place at the Library of Congress, prior to departure of the unit
for boot training at Camp Lejeune. Much local enthusiasm was created, and, as
a library official later wrote to a Marine officer: "In all my years of
association with the Library of Congress I have never seen the steps of the
main building put to more appropriate use than the swearing in of the First
Potomac Platoon of Women Marines."<72>
The recruiting of other "all neighbor" women's platoons was scheduled
which included: Albany, Buffalo (two), Northern New England, Pittsburgh (two),
Miami, Alabama, Fayette County, Pa., Johnstown, Pa., St. Paul, Green Bay,
Westmoreland County, Pa., Seattle, Houston, Southern New England, Central New
York, and Dallas. Members of the platoons were ordered to duty at one time,
went through their preliminary training as a unit, but upon completion of
their training were assigned to duty individually.<73>
Training at Camp Lejeune
The training program of all Women Marines was drawn up with the prime
objective of converting civilians into responsible military personnel in the
shortest time possible. As with generations of male Marines before them,
close-order drill proved to be the most effective single training factor.<74>
Through these basic military movements, the Women Marines learned not only the
value of teamwork, military precision and snap, instantaneous response to
command, and discipline and order, but also pride in outfit, pride in self,
and the intangibles of that traditional Marine esprit.
Upon completion of basic training, those women considered to have
sufficient skills to be of immediate value to the Marine Corps received their
orders and went on active duty at once. Other women, both officer and
enlisted, were assigned to specialist schools and still others were trained on
the job
19
as apprentices. Depending on their civilian background and skill, some took
over in supervisory positions. In any event, the aim was to get the women
assigned to suitable duty as rapidly as possible in accordance with the
current needs of the service.
Lieutenant Colonel Lucian C. Whitaker, USMCR, and, later Colonel John M.
Arthur, USMC, were the commanding Officers of the Camp Lejeune Women's Reserve
Schools which included the Recruit Depot, Candidates' Class, and Specialist
Schools Detachment. The platoons in training at New River averaged from 28 to
30 women, and a company, approximately 165.<75>
Of the 22,1999 women ordered to Recruit Depot (i.e., Hunter College and
Camp Lejeune), only 602 failed to complete the course for physical reasons or
inaptitude, an attrition rate of 2.7 percent. These individuals were
discharged either on grounds of unsuitability or by medical survey.<76>
Specialist Training
From the very beginning, advanced training was available. More than 100
members of the first class graduated 25 April from Hunter attended Navy and
Marine specialist schools. The early Navy courses were: Aviation Machinist
Mate at the Naval Training School, Memphis, Tennessee; Link Training
Instructor at the Naval Air Station, Atlanta, Georgia; and Aviation
Storekeeper at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Early Marine
specialty schools included cooks and bakers, motor transport, quartermaster,
and non-commissioned officers. Members of the officer classes at Mount
Holyoke were also selected for further training, including instruction at the
Navy's communications school in South Hadley, Massachusetts.<77>
Before the war was over, some 30 specialist schools were open to the
Women Marines in fields as diverse as mechanics and personnel administration.
Nearly 9,000 women received such advanced training. The courses varied in
length from 4 to 22 weeks and were open to women who had finished "boot
training" and who sought and qualified for higher ratings in the specialized
fields.<78> As women proved their versatility on the job, the original
half-dozen or so specialist schools quickly expanded to capitalize on their
abilities. At the University of Wisconsin, for instance, one WR studying
radio communications actually picked up an SOS from a ship sinking somewhere
at sea.<79>
In addition to the early schools, other Marine Corps and Navy training
courses open to the women during the two and a half years of the war included:
first sergeant, paymaster, signal, parachute rigger, aerographer, clerical,
control tower
20
operator, aerial gunnery instructor, celestial navigation, motion picture
operators technician, aircraft instruments, radio operator, radio material,
radio material teletypewriter, post exchange, uniform shop, aviation
storekeeping, automotive mechanic, carburetor and ignition, aviation supply,
and photography. Many of these classes, such as those at the First Sergeant's
School in Philadelphia, contained old-time veteran Marines. Thus members of
the new Women's Reserve benefited both by personal association with these
highly competent (and sometimes highly critical) "Old Salts" and from
classroom discussions of their job experiences. Top-ranking students were
often awarded a higher rating than the majority of the class upon completion
of specialty training.<80>
Promotion from the Ranks
The first seven officer candidates' classes were made up of women who
enlisted in Class VI(a) directly from civilian life.<81> The applications of
these women were forwarded to Headquarters from the procurement district where
they had originally enlisted. In Washington, a four-member board reviewed all
applications for officer training and selected the best qualified, who were
subsequently ordered to duty.
Because there were many outstanding enlisted women who, officials
believed, should also have the opportunity for commissioned rank, this plan
was modified in July 1943. The Commandant felt that from then on there would
be sufficient Class V (b) Reservists who "as a result of education, past
experience and training can supply the demand and perform the duties as
officers. The plan of selecting commissioned personnel, in the main, from the
ranks will build up a high standard of morale, efficiency, and esprit de
corps." Thus, beginning with the eighth class, in October 1943, the
candidates' class was composed of both civilian and enlisted women, with the
majority in the latter group. To be eligible, a Marine had to be recommended
by her commanding officer. A board of seven members, including the Women's
Reserve Director, as well as both regular and reserve male officers, was
convened regularly to review and pass judgment on applications from enlisted
personnel.<82> This new plan, it should be pointed out, did not completely
close the door to civilian candidates. Women with specialized abilities
needed by the Marine Corps or those considered to have generally outstanding
leadership qualities were still accepted, but on a far more limited basis.
The first class of ex-enlisted Marines was graduated on 15 December 1943, and
thereafter the majority of new women officers had served in an enlisted
capacity before being commissioned.<83>
21
After the transfer to New River, all officer candidates were appointed to
the rank of private first class and remained as such during the entire course,
a move that brought the women's training more into line with that of male
Marines, since this system was being used in the men's OCS program at
Quantico. The cadet category had served its purpose and was dropped once the
Marines were training strictly on their own. Meritorious enlisted women who
held the ranks of corporal or sergeant temporarily reverted to PFC, and all
candidates wore PFC chevrons and OC pins on their uniform lapels and caps.
Although the outward appearance of equal rank prevailed, the higher-rated WRs
were still eligible to draw the pay of their actual rank. In the event an
enlisted woman did not complete the course, she resumed her regular rating.
If she so desired, she was eligible after six months to reapply for a new
candidates' class "without prejudice against her" because of her earlier
failure.<84> At the completion of training, successful candidates were
commissioned in the "appropriate" rank. The custom developed of awarding
first lieutenant commissions to a small proportion of top candidates and
second lieutenant rank to the rest. In several cases, unusually
well-qualified candidates were awarded the rank of captain immediately upon
completion of candidates' class. But this was no "snap" course; attrition
averaged over 30 percent.<85>
Reserve Officer Class
When officer ranks were opened to enlisted personnel in late 1943, it
became apparent that even an outstanding NCO did not always make an immediate
good personal adjustment to officer status. Then, too, it seemed advisable
that these ex-enlisted women should become somewhat more accustomed to their
gold bars while still at school and before going out to their first officer
jobs.
Accordingly, the first reserve officer class was established after
commissioning of the eighth officer candidates' class, in December.
Thereafter, the reserve office class was composed of successful graduates of
officers' class as well as graduates of the earlier classes who had been on
active duty and for whom it served as a refresher course. Principal emphasis
was on typical personnel problems. Discussions included realistic problems in
administration, recreation, messing, rehabilitation, and the psychology of
behavior patterns that a woman officer might have to deal with on the job.
The officer training program was thus lengthened to a full three months, with
eight weeks of fundamental indoctrination plus the four-week training offered
by the reserve officer class.<86>
22
IV. The Uniform
Design of the uniform for members of the Woman's Reserve had high
priority, and the basic ensemble of the uniform was designed prior to actual
formation of the Women's Reserve. In mid-December 1942, a memorandum from the
Commandant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy officially requested that
Mrs. Anne Adams Lentz, then an employee of the War Department, be assigned to
duty at Headquarters "for a period of approximately 30 days."<87> Mrs. Lentz
had been employed by the school uniform section of a large New York department
store and for eight months had helped the WAACs in the design of their
uniform. She came on duty immediately, early in January, and, following
consultation with the Depot Quartermaster in Philadelphia, was detailed to New
York City to oversee the construction of model uniforms for the Women's
Reserve by the Women's Garment Manufacturers of New York.<88> The original
concept for design of the uniform was clearly spelled out. The men wanted the
women to be dressed in the traditional Marine forest green and to look as much
as possible like Marines. Later that month, her original 30-day duty about to
expire, Mrs. Lentz decided to stay on. She was sworn in as a WR captain on 18
January 1943, the oath of office being administered by her husband, Brigadier
General John M. Lentz, who was attached to Army Ground Forces Headquarters in
Washington, D. C.<89>
After Captain Lentz conferred with clothing designers in New York and
Marine Corps Headquarters, as well as the supply division in Philadelphia, a
general type of uniform was adopted based on tradition, theory, and drawings.
Samples were made up of various uniform designs, these were shown to the
Commandant and others at Headquarters, and both the winter and summer styles
here adopted.<90>
Once the details of design and construction were officially approved, the
uniforms were manufactured for the Marine Corps and sold by civilian suppliers
under the same general setup as prevailed with the WAVES. Although newspaper
clippings showed the new uniform the week after public announcement, and a few
key women officers who were constantly in the public eye were issued uniforms
almost at once, the inexorable law of supply and demand made it impossible to
provide uniforms in quantity until April. Nearly all the early USMCWR
officers went on active duty or training, to all outward appearance civilians.
Public interest in the uniform, as well as the name and all other matters
concerning the Women's Reserve, was keen. Perhaps mindful of the blue and red
of the Marine dress uniform, one woman sent in to Marine Corps Headquarters a
picture of a blue and red suit ensemble appearing in the current issue of a
high-styled fashion magazine, recommending its adoption and commenting
23
that the hat would "probably have to be modified" for the Marine Corps'
purposes.<91> Another unsolicited offer of help came from an ex-Marine of
World War I who volunteered his old dress blue cape and wrote: "I am wondering
if the uniform of the new Women's Reserve of the Marine Corps will include the
blue cape....I happen to have found two of these among my effects a few days
ago....I will be glad to donate them to the new organization if you can use
them."<92> Customarily, Marine Corps Headquarters sent individual replies to
such letters, thanking the writers for their interest in the Marine Corps and
offer of help, but advising that forest green uniform had already been decided
upon for the women's use.
Essentially the regulation Marine uniform was adopted. Its feminine
counterpart was identical in color with that of the men, but of a slightly
lighter-weight serge or covert fabric, although enthusiasts at the time not
infrequently proclaimed that the girls' uniforms were "cut from the identical
forest green cloth as the men's."<93>
In accordance with provisions of the law which had authorized the Women's
Reserve, a uniform allowance and gratuity of $250 was made for officers and
$200 for enlisted. It was expected that uniforms would be purchased, fitted,
and paid for during the period of indoctrination. From her uniform allowance,
a Woman Marine purchased two winter uniforms, hats shoes, summer outfits, a
handbag, a wool-lined raincoat (at $41 the most expensive item in her
wardrobe), and various other articles.<94>
Official Issue
The winter uniform consisted of a forest-green, tailored suit with a
semifitted, unbelted, three-button jacket with roll collar and notched lapels,
worn with a plain matching six-gored skirt that extended approximately to the
bottom of the knee cap. The jacket had four pockets, and the traditional
Marine pointed-overlay cuff detail finished the sleeve. Dull-finished bronze
Marine ornaments were worn on the collar, and jacket buttons were of the same
design and finish. A khaki shirt and tie, cordovan oxfords or pumps, seamed
beige hose, dark-brown gloves, and a dark-brown shoulder bag were worn. The
visored, bell-crowned cap had a large dull-bronze finished Marine Corps
ornament in front and was trimmed with a scarlet cap cord. This cord was a
striking difference of the women's uniform and replaced the brown chin strap
of the men's dress cap. A matching scarlet wool muffler was worn with the
trenchcoat or overcoat. Officers wore their rank insignia on the shoulder
straps of the jacket and on the shirt collar. They also had the option of
white shirts and dark green
24
ties for dress wear. Enlisted personnel wore their chevrons in the manner of
male Marines. In most other respects, the uniforms worn by officers and
enlisted women were quite similar.<95>
Rather than the traditional military khaki with close-fitting collar and
necktie worn by male Marines as well as the women in World War I, the summer
work uniform designed for the women in World War II was a tailored two-piece
dress, initially of green and white striped plisse crepe, and shortly
thereafter of similarly striped seersucker. On the principle that "coolness
makes for efficiency," it had an open V-neck, short sleeves, and four patch
pockets. Captain Lentz was the one who first suggested breaking with the
tradition of summer khaki and the use of seersucker uniforms because of the
ease with which they could be laundered, since it was recognized that at many
places members of the Women's Reserve would be entirely dependent on
themselves for the proper laundering and smart appearance of their
uniforms.<96> The single-breasted jacket of this dress had five large white
buttons down the front; small white buttons closed the pointed flaps of the
four pockets. Commissioned rank was indicated by metal insignia-on the
shoulder straps and noncommissioned rank by green chevrons. Officers at first
wore their insignia right on the straps, but it was soon realized that on the
striped material the insignia was not easily seen. Therefore, a slightly
stiffened solid green shoulder board in the shape of the strap was devised.
Dull-finished bronze Marine Corps ornaments were worn on the collar. At
first, the summer headgear was a round cap with a snap brim, but this was soon
replaced by a cap of the same style as that of the winter uniform, but of a
light spruce-green cotton twill. This cap had a white cap cord and the same
large globe-and-anchor ornament. Later, a light-green, garrison-style cap
with white piping was authorized. The same dark-brown oxfords or pumps used
with the winter service were worn. For summer wear the handbag had a matching
spruce-green cover, easily removable to launder. Gloves were white. All
items of the summer uniform were designed so they would be washable and easy
to keep in good repair.<97>
Summer dress uniform was a two-piece sparkling white cotton, in the same
styling as the seersucker uniform, but worn with gold buttons and insignia,
white pumps and gloves, and the same green-visored cap and matching cover for
the handbag.<98>
Uniform regulations were issued and modified as required.<99> The proper
lipstick hue was prescribed as a clear red, or close to the trade shade known
as "Montezuma Red" which matched the winter cap cord and muffler and was
"neatly and thinly applied."<100> Girdles were a must, no matter how trim or
willowy
25
the figure. Slips were to be worn and were not to show below the skirt. Hair
might touch but not cover the collar. Fingernail polish was an option, but if
worn had to match the lipstick. And, unlike their more casual civilian
sisters, hats and gloves were required at all times when outdoors.<101>
In addition to regular summer and winter uniforms, certain specialized
types of uniforms were issued such as bibbed overalls for work clothes. An
attempt was made to keep all uniforms attractively-styled but simple, so as to
keep within the monetary uniform allowance and make them easy to keep cleaned,
pressed, and sharp looking.<102>
Those Dress Whites!
Summer dress uniforms easily won hands-down honors from both Marines and
non-Marines as the most attractive and feminine uniform of any women's
service. They were an immediate hit. When the Third War Loan Drive got
underway on 9 September 1943, Women Marines attired in the dress whites nearly
stole the show in Philadelphia. "The snappy-looking members of the MCWR--a
score of them--were parts of the official escort for the dozen or more
Hollywood stars," wrote one observer. "All the stars highly complimented the
uniforms of the Women's Reserve...Dick Powell said he thought they were the
nicest he had seen." Perhaps the best accolade of all came from the policeman
who commented simply: "I hear from all sides that the Women Marines outshone
the stars."<103>
Special Uniform Class and Uniform Distribution
From September through December 1943, 13 women officers were attached to
Headquarters for intensive training in the various phases of tailoring,
alternations, clothing construction, and fitting. Upon completion of a
six-week course, they were assigned to uniform shops being operated by Post
Exchanges at major Marine Corps posts throughout the country. Two phases of
training were covered in the course: materials, design, construction,
specifications, and uniform regulations; and administration and successful
operation of a uniform shop, including the set-up of a Post Exchange stock
control system. Unlike some of their sister services, the Women Marines'
clothing was not government issue. Regulation clothing and all items of
uniform were purchased by the Post Exchange, and in turn bought by the women,
using the allowance given them by the government. At the Post Exchange
Uniform Shop, Women Marines especially trained for the job fitted the
clothing.
26
Originally, in 1943, Marine Corps Women's Reserve uniforms had been
manufactured by various firms and sold to retail outlets. These stores then
sold the uniforms to the individual women, a system of supply and distribution
which had been used by the WAVES and adopted by the Women Marines. However,
since it seemed to have a number of inherent difficulties, including chronic
shortage of popular sizes, a change was made on 16 February 1944, when
responsibility for distribution of the women's clothing was placed in the
Quartermaster Department which supplied the Post Exchange shops throughout the
country for the remainder of the war.<104>
Uniform Board and Regulations
On 11 June 1943, a Uniform Unit was established as part of the Women's
Reserve Section at Marine Corps Headquarters. Its purpose was to provide for
the complete uniforming of the individual at the time of assignment to active
duty. A Uniform Board which suggested articles of clothing and made
recommendations to the Commandant was established on 17 June. A complete list
of uniform regulations, including explanatory sketches, was issued in July
1943, after having been approved by the Uniform Board, the Commandant, and the
Secretary of the Navy. These regulations were later modified and reissued in
April 1945.<105>
On 16 June 1944, the Uniform Unit of the Women's Reserve Section was
transferred to the Supply Division, Quartermaster Department. A number of
steps were taken to make the entire system of supply and distribution of
uniforms more expeditious. In October, this division took over the writing and
approval of all specifications for Women's Reserve clothing. This job had
previously been done by the Philadelphia Depot of Supplies which had based
many of its supply projections on its past experience of working with men's
clothing, a system which not too surprisingly proved inadequate, as certain
characteristics of women's clothing were entirely unrelated to men's.<106>
Although the Woman Marine uniform itself was well-accepted and a definite
success, many of the administrative procedures concerning its design,
specifications, accurate sizing, inspection, and distribution remained a
changing but constant problem. As the Director herself once commented:
"...the supply of MCWR clothing was one of the few problems to which a
satisfactory solution had not been found at the time that demobilization
began."<107>
27
V. Jobs and Job Assignments
All Marine Corps training for the women, whether basic or specialist, was
tough and thorough. The objective was to indoctrinate a Woman Marine so
completely in her field or specialty that she could handle any contingency
that might develop in the day-to-day job situation. Skill and precision were
mandatory, whether in transcribing shorthand notes or packing parachutes. As
with the battlefield Marines, the women learned that mistakes could cost
lives.
Women Marines in World War II had many advantages over their predecessors
in World War I. One of the biggest of these was in job assignments and
increased job responsibility. The women Marines of 1918 (or, as they were
called in the parlance of the day, "Marinettes") <108> numbered 305 and had
primarily clerical duties--stenography, typing, bookkeeping, and messenger
chores.<109>
By contrast a much wider range of jobs were available to USMCR women in
the Second World War. This included such diverse tasks as being a radio
operator, photographer, parachute rigger, motor transport driver, aerial
gunnery instructor, cook and baker, quartermaster, Link trainer instructor,
control tower operator, motion picture technician, automotive mechanic,
teletype operator, cryptographer, laundry manager, and post exchange manager.
In addition, as the women's units were set up in posts throughout the country,
there were hundreds of "line" or company work assignments created which
compare roughly to personnel management jobs in civilian life, as well as the
inevitable stenographic and related desk jobs.
Early recruiting literature in 1943 had referred to "more than 30
different job assignments."<110> Actually, this turned out to be an extremely
modest estimate. Once on the job, the women proved themselves so versatile
that they were soon performing assignments previously considered strictly in
the masculine domain. They also took on, informally, other duties such as
swimming pool lifeguard on some posts and stations.<111> The total number of
different job classifications turned out to be more than 200. (See Appendix A
for complete list.)
Job Classification
A job classification system was established in March 1943 so that each
man Marine could be easily placed in the task she was suited to handle
following completion of her indoctrination course. At both the U. S. Naval
Training School in the Bronx and the U. S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School
in Northhampton, women Reservists were questioned as to professional
experience, education, hobbies, and linguistic ability. Tests determined
their special aptitudes.<112>
28
The classification system, paralleling that used for the men, was under
the direction of Captain Cornelia Williams, at Marine Corps Headquarters. She
held a Ph.D. degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota and had
wide experience as a college instructor and administrator in student personnel
work.<113> The Women's Reserve Section of the Detail Branch was responsible
for the classification and detail of all Women Reservists. The section's
classification work involved selection of tests, designing a qualification
card, supervising the selection and training of classification personnel, and
analyzing jobs and giving them appropriate specification serial numbers. The
Women's Reserve Section projected and planned the distribution of all Women
Marines in accordance with the current needs of the service and requested the
necessary orders to send them to the appropriate schools or duty stations.
This required analysis of billets, an analysis of available personnel, and the
matching of the two as well as possible.<114>
After the transfer of recruit training to Camp Lejeune in early July,
each new Marine was tested and interviewed during her first week of training.
Assignment to jobs and eligibility for the specialists schools was determined
by the classification section at the Women's Reserve Schools. Eventually,
classification specialists were assigned to all posts and stations to assist
in the assignment of women who reported for duty and to reclassify them when
necessary. Reassignment sometimes became necessary because the personnel were
misassigned in the first place or because the needs of the service had
changed.<115>
More than half of all Women Marines were assigned to office jobs where
they utilized their civilian experience. A statistical breakdown of the
17,672 women on duty at the end of the war shows they had primary military job
specialties in the following categories:
Clerical and sales 11,020 (or 62.4 percent>
General duty 1,648 ( 9.3 percent>
Mechanical 1,371 ( 7.7 percent>
Professional and managerial 1,342 ( 7.6 percent>
Semi-skilled jobs 1,305 ( 7.4 percent>
Agriculture and service 587 ( 3.3 percent>
Student 35 ( 0.2 percent>
Unskilled 14 ( 0.08 percent>
<116>
An analysis of military assignment in relation to civilian background
shows that:
(1) The total number of Women Marines assigned to clerical duties was
about the same as the percentage so employed in civilian life.
29
(2) Proportionately fewer women were utilized in "professional"
categories in the Marine Corps than came from professional jobs in civilian
life. Most of the discrepancies can be accounted for by the relatively large
number of civilian school teachers who enlisted in the Women's Reserve, in
contrast to the number of instructional jobs available.
(3) Proportionately more women were used in the Marine Corps in
mechanical jobs than came from these types of jobs as civilians--especially in
aviation.
(4) More women were used in the service category than came from this
category as civilians. Here again the discrepancy resulted from the fact that
all commissary jobs in the Marine Corps were classified as personal
service.<117>
Promotion
Promotion is always a difficult problem, and enlisted promotion in the
Women's Reserve was no exception. Several different plans were tried, found
not entirely satisfactory, and were amended. Eleven Letters of Instruction
were issued on the subject in two and a half years. The final system used for
line personnel which seemed to work best provided that 75 percent of the
combined strength of privates and privates first class could rank as privates
first class. A quota of promotions to the fourth and fifth pay grades was
allotted monthly to each post, and these promotions were made by the post
commander after tests were given and successful candidates determined.
Promotions to the first three pay grades were recommended by commanding
officers and effected by Marine Corps Headquarters as vacancies existed. In
the specialty schools top-ranking students were often graduated a full rating
ahead of the rest of the class.<118>
With officers, seniority was the chief determining factor in the
beginning. Later, it was decided that promotion should be made by selection,
and for specific billets, so it would be possible to have the rank where it
was most needed. The principle of bloc promotion from second to first
lieutenant was adopted and all Women's Reserve officers who served
satisfactorily in commissioned rank for at least 18 months were finally
assured one promotion.
"Spot" promotions were authorized in cases where a woman with specialized
skills was needed to fill a billet which by table of organization called for a
higher-ranking Marine. Such promotions became official only when the woman
later came up for regular promotion with contemporaries from her same training
class or like seniority, and was selected for promotion to the next higher
rank.<119>
30
Buildup
In May of 1943, as the first Hunter and Mount Holyoke classes were
graduated, Women Marines began reporting in all units to camps and bases, as
well as to Headquarters in Washington, where there were approximately 250
enlisted women and 15 officers by mid-May.
A little later, as the Marine raiders headlined the front pages with
their landing on New Georgia and the capture of Viru Harbor, the first two
Women Marines assigned to motor transport completed their specialist courses
at Camp Lejeune and climbed into military trucks.
July--as the new WR Schools complex began in full schedule at Camp
Lejeune--found the Women Marines there moving full force into Paymaster and
Quartermaster schools, well-aware that 9,000 miles away the Central Solomons
were being blasted by Marine fliers and that more men would be needed for the
island-hopping conquest of the enemy.
August found the Women Marines at Lakehurst, New Jersey, learning to fold
the silken safety of parachutes--and for them, the vital importance of the
rigger's work was underlined by the landing of Marine Corsairs on Munda
Airfield, a promise of air-battles to come.
September found three battalions of Women Marines training simultaneously
at Camp Lejeune's Recruit Depot. As the first Marine planes landed in
September on the newly-constructed airfield at Barakoma, Vella Lavella Island,
in the Solomons, 25 women skilled in the handling of the Link trainer began
instructing future Marine pilots at the air station at Edenton, North
Carolina.<120>
By the following month, the first Women Marines had reported for duty on
the West Coast--at Camp Pendleton and the air stations at Santa Barbara and El
Centro, California. At Cherry Point, where the women were already
established, the entire bus system was taken over by them. With the buses,
they inherited the responsibility of dispatching, maintenance, and repairs.
And at New River's "Tent City," combat Marines were surprised one morning when
a group of Women Marines electricians reported to wire an area of Dallas
huts.<121>
In November at San Diego and Parris Island, male teletype operators,
cashiers, stenographers, and file clerks left in large numbers for the front
lines as the women reported for duty. At the Marine Corps Air Station at El
Toro, California, the first 97 women paved the way for the thousands who
eventually reported there to work in offices, handle mail, drive
31
jeeps, repair aircraft engines, and instruct combat crewmen in aerial gunnery.
At the same time, at Quantico, Virginia, the first four women radio operators
reported for duty.<122>
Reported the Quantico Sentry in November 1943: "The women Marines have
landed. Quantico--the beehive of training in World War I, on Wednesday
received the first of the WR detachment. Over 11,000 green-clad Women Marines
(approximately 8,500 already on active duty) are training and working at 125
different types of jobs at 52 other Marine posts and stations."<123>
Other Women Marines, in training at the University of Wisconsin, at Miami
University in Oxford, Ohio and at Omaha, Nebraska were learning the
International Morse Code and the maintenance and operation of sending and
receiving equipment, in preparation for the eventual take over of
station-to-station communication at posts throughout the country.<124>
Shortly thereafter, in December 1943, the significance of air power was
re-emphasized to the women in forest green by the first Marine fighter sweep
on Rabaul. With approximately one-third of their total strength destined for
some phase of aviation, Women Marines later that month moved into the fields
of celestial navigation, studying mathematics and theory at Hollywood, Florida
and the operation and maintenance of the miniature bomber at Quonset, Rhode
Island. At the same time, control tower operators, trained at the Atlanta,
Georgia specialty school, were assigned to Marine flying fields, releasing
more men for the air units in the Pacific.<125>
Thus, by the end of their first year in service--13 February 1944--the
Women Marines were nearing their planned enlistment strength and were a
close-working unit on each camp, base, or air station. In quartermaster
departments, they were taking over not only the paperwork, but the actual
loading duty in stock-rooms. In other activities, they were aerial
photographers and darkroom technicians, welders and painters, telephone
operators, and aircraft and instrument mechanics.<126>
Watching the combat men ship out for battle zones, the Women Marines
worked steadily at their jobs and assumed new ones. June and July of 1944
marked the battles for Saipan, Tinian, and Guam---and the casualty lists
passed through the hands of the Women Marines stationed at Marine Corps
Headquarters. Billeted at Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, they were
part of the over 2,000 on duty at Headquarters as stenographers, typists,
clerks, and messengers. Working in procurement, aviation, mail and files,
plans and policies, and other offices, they handled the clerical details of
muster rolls, decorations, statistics, payrolls, identifications, and other
activities attendant upon the tremendous task of administration.<127>
32
In September, the landings on Peleliu once more brought home to the women
the need for constant replacements and supplies in the Pacific. Cherry Point
graduated its first class of women skilled in PBJ (Mitchell bomber) repair,
and women radio operators began standing watch at the field's lighthouse
tower. At the same time, WR aviation machinists were graduating from the
Naval Air Technical Training School in Norman, Oklahoma, and reporting for
crew work at airfields. In the supply depots in San Francisco and
Philadelphia, women packed and repaired radio parts, sorted clothing, and
drove trucks.<128>
Beginning in December and though the first half of 1945, the
participation of the Women Marines in the great push to victory was made even
more complete when the passage of modified regulations permitted them to serve
overseas. Nearly a thousand Women Marines served in Hawaii, at the Pearl
Harbor Naval Base and Marine Corps Air Station in Ewa. Here they did much as
they had done in the States--moved into offices, workshops, and other
installations, freeing combat men for front-line duty or return Stateside for
well-earned furloughs. With the ending of hostilities and surrender of Japan,
nearly 20,000 Women Marines in jobs both in Hawaii and the States knew that
their contribution had indeed been a vital one.<129>
Job in Aviation
Before the war ended, nearly one-third of the Women Marines had served in
aviation at Marine air commands and bases. Under the special arrangement that
the Division of Aviation had within the Marine Corps whereby it trained,
assigned, and supervised its own personnel, this same policy was extended to
women. Upon completion of recruit training, they took classification tests
and were divided into two main groups: those assigned to aviation and those to
non-aviation, or general duty. In most cases the Division of Aviation then
made its own arrangements about specialty training.<130>
All personnel working in aviation--whether in the "glamour" technical
assignments such as Link trainer instructors and control tower operators or in
the purely administrative functions such as stenographers and stock
clerks--were classified as holding aviation jobs. Since so many aviation jobs
were being filled by women, it became essential to have at least one key
officer responsible for the varied liaison and training duties. A memorandum
in early 1943 cited the modest requirements needed by this woman: she should
have, preferably, both aviation and general business experience plus the
executive ability to work with the Division of Aviation in connection with
liaison, organization, procurement, and training. Also, since Marine
33
aviation traditionally is so closely linked with naval aviation, an
understanding of Navy Department organization, as well as that of the Marine
Corps, was also considered desirable. A main requirement was described simply
as the ability to "handle problems and get things done."<131> Two women were
selected for special duties in the Division of Aviation and approved for
appointment to the rank of captain, following completion of officers'
training. They were Marion B. Dryden and Katherine D. Lynch, both members of
the fifth officers' class, who were commissioned on 20 September 1943.<132>
Indication of how the women replaced the men in air ground jobs can be
seen from the record at Cherry Point. By August 1944 all the training in Link
instruction was handled by the Women Marines. They took almost complete
charge of the photography department and film library. Ninety percent of the
parachute packing, inspecting, and repairing was done by the women, and 80
percent of the landing-field control tower operations were being "manned" by
women.<133>
With assignment of large numbers of women to duty at Marine air stations,
a number of detachments were activated as Aviation Women's Reserve Squadrons.
The function of these units was to supply various technical and administrative
personnel needed by the male Marine operational training unit of the next
higher echelon. Aviation Women's Reserve Squadrons in operation at the end of
the war included: Number 1 at Mojave; Number 2 at Santa Barbara; Number 3 at
El Centro; Numbers 4 and 5 at Miramar; Numbers 6-10 at El Toro; Number 11 at
Parris-Island; Number 14 at Ewa, Hawaii; Numbers 15-20 at Cherry Point; and
Number 21 at Quantico.<134>
"Appropriateness" of Jobs
A four-fold classification of the "appropriateness" of jobs in respect to
innate female capabilities to perform the work in contrast to the men they
released was made, based on World War II evidence. These are the following
classifications and the conclusions which were reached.<135>
Class I: Jobs in which women are better, more efficient than men.
Example: All clerical jobs, especially those involving typing or requiring
fairly routine tasks but coupled with a high degree of accuracy in the work;
administrative jobs connected with organization and administration of the
Women's Reserve; and instructional jobs of all types.
Class II: Jobs in which women are as good as men, and replaced men on a
one-to-one basis. Examples: some clerical jobs in which men are especially
good, such as accounting;
34
some relatively unskilled service or clerical jobs, such as messengers or Post
Exchange clerks; some of the mechanical and skilled jobs, such as watch
repairman, fire control instrument repairman, tailor, sewing machine
operator--especially those jobs requiring a high degree of finger dexterity.
Class III: Jobs in which women are not as good as men, but can be used
effectively when need is great, such as wartime. Example: most of the jobs in
motor transport--men are better as motor mechanics and even as drivers when
the equipment is heavy and the job demands loading and unloading as well as
driving, as it often does; most of the "mechanical" and "skilled" jobs;
supervisory and administrative jobs, such as first-sergeant (except in WR
units) where maximum proficiency depends on years of experience in the Marine
Corps, and also some supervisory jobs where part of the personnel being
supervised is male; strenuous and physically tiring jobs, such as mess duty
where experience showed that more women had to be assigned to cover the same
amount of work because they could not endure the long hours and physical
strain without relief as well as men.
Class IV: Jobs in which women cannot or should not be used at all.
Example: jobs demanding excessive physical strength, such as driving
extremely heavy equipment, stock handling in warehouses, heavy lifting in mess
halls; jobs totally inappropriate, such as battle duty or jobs requiring that
personnel be engaged at particularly unfavorable hours, jobs protected by
special civil service regulations for civilians, such as librarians.
The Philosophy of Hard Work
The fundamental purpose of the Women's Reserve in World War II was to
train Women Marines to replace men in essential duties at Marine bases,
without loss of military efficiency. The Marine Corps had no place for
self-appointed glamour girls. Enlistees were told bluntly they must be ready
to learn many new things and to put up with a lot of hard work. Typical of
this straight-forward, realistic approach was a statement made by the Director
less than six months after the Women Marines had been aboard. In an official
memorandum she noted that women of the Marine Corps were now stationed all
over the United States, serving in all kinds of jobs, and true to traditions
of the Corps, "cheerfully assume whatever duty may be assigned to them, even
though it may be a job they do not particularly like. Our people as a whole
do just as the other members of the Marine Corps and take satisfaction in a
hard job well done."<136>
Admittedly some of the men had second thoughts about the real usefulness
of the women until they saw them in action and observed "dungareed WRs tear
down a Corsair engine, or slide
35
out, greased and grimed, from under a six-by-six truck, or handle a fouled-up
traffic pattern from a control tower with the same ease as they did a
typewriter."<137>
Not unexpectedly, morale was highest among those women who could see that
they had actually "freed a man to fight" or that their efforts were a direct
help to fighting Marines. Morale was correspondingly low where the women were
not kept sufficiently busy or where their jobs bore no visible relation to the
war effort--such as beauty operators. The greatest single morale factor among
members of the Women's Reserve was job satisfaction.<138>
And at the end, men who weren't too enthusiastic about admitting women to
"their" Marine Corps were not at all enthusiastic about seeing them go. As
one captain ruefully remarked: "You can't pick good clerks out of thin air.
The women have done remarkably well."<139>
VI. Administration and Policies
The original Plans and Policies study which had recommended the formation
of a Women's Reserve also suggested that it be placed for administrative
purposes in the Division of Reserve of the Adjutant and Inspector's
Department. This was a logical decision since the Division of Reserve was
responsible for the procurement of all Marine Corps reserve personnel. A
newly created unit, called the Women's Reserve Section, was attached to the
Division of Reserve to handle matters dealing with administration of the
Women's Reserve, e.g., training, uniforming, and regulations. Suitable
personnel were placed in the Women's Reserve Section to handle the new
activity. In addition, a senior woman officer was assigned to major
activities at Marine Corps Headquarters which handled matters affecting
women--such as Personnel, Administrative Division, Public Information, Plans
and Policies, and Supply.<140>
It was believed that women could be most useful to the Marine Corps if
they were regarded for purposes of organization much like "extra" Marines.
Thus, all administrative action relating to them was taken through the
regularly established divisions which were already performing such functions
for the men, and the Women's Reserve was never organized as a separate
administrative unit.<141>
Initially, the Director, MCWR, was charged with the "...procurement,
instruction, training, discipline, organization, administration and
mobilization of the Women's Reserve for the duration of the war and six months
thereafter."<142> From 13 February to 29 October 1943, she was attached to
the Women's Reserve Section for "purposes of instruction" as she learned
36
her way around military procedures. On the latter date she was transferred as
a Special Assistant to the Director of Personnel, with her chief duty being
that of advising him on policy matters concerning the Women's Reserve.
Although the Director had considerable influence in developing policies and
procedures for the new Women's Reserve, actually she never took any
independent action regarding the administrative handling of the Reserve. She
made the recommendations to the Director of Personnel who, in turn, was
authorized to take appropriate action.<143>
Since the guiding philosophy was to treat the Women Marines, for
administrative purposes, much like additional Marines, it was logical that
those regulations governing the men which were appropriate and practical for
the women would also be adopted. Some administrative procedures and policies
were also adopted from the WAVES. This, too, was natural, since in the
beginning recruiting and training of the Women Marines had been conducted in
conjunction with that of the WAVES. Then, too, the Marine Corps Women's
Reserve benefited from the valuable experience of the other women's services
which was freely shared. The Canadian Women's Army Corps was also most
helpful. In fact, an officer of the regular Marine Corps, Lieutenant Colonel
John B. Hill, had paid an official visit to the CWAC and the other Canadian
women's services in January 1943, before the Marine Corps Women's Reserve was
formed, to learn first-hand about the curricula, personnel policies, and other
organizational details that might be helpful to the new American service.<144>
Cooperation with the Women's Services
Despite the fact that the women's services were competitive, in the sense
they were all eager to enlist well-qualified candidates, a high degree of
cooperation and good will existed between the directors themselves. The women
leaders of the three other services, and their highest ranks, were: Colonel
Oveta Culp Hobby, WAAC and WAC; Captain Mildred H. McAfee, WAVES; and Captain
Dorothy C. Stratton, SPARS.
A typical matter on which the four women's service leaders worked
together was drawing up a unified program of the recruiting, as well as
enlistment, of women from the war industries, civil service, or agriculture.
After the four directors had worked out an agreement which resolved their own
differences of viewpoint or emphasis, the recommendation was then submitted to
the Joint Army-Navy Personnel Board for final approval. The board, in turn,
issued the all-service policy which was then followed by the four women's
reserves.<145>
As a general policy, the enlistment of applicants already employed in any
of the war industries was discouraged. The case was referred to the local
office of the United States Employment Service which had to authorize a
release. In instances of civil service workers who sought enlistment in the
Marine Reserve, the policy adopted was that the woman had first to
37
secure a written release from the agency. An employee who was released
"without prejudice" on the part of her employer could apply to the Women's
Reserve under the same conditions as a non-Civil Service employee. On the
other hand, an employee whose resignation had been accepted "with prejudice"
and whose employer was reluctant to have her go, was ineligible for membership
in the armed services until 90 days had expired from the date of acceptance of
her resignation. Civil service employees who resigned to enlist in the
Marines were not returned to duty at their former place of employment, even if
they happened to be classified with a military job description identical to
their previous civilian occupation.<146>
Typical of the good feeling that existed among the women's services was
the Marine Corps' three-day Open House at Camp Lejeune held from 13-15 October
1943, after transfer there of all the women's training activities. Planned as
a method of information exchange between the women's services, the three-day
event included inspection of training facilities and methods as well as
observation of the performance of Women Marines on the job. Representatives
of the WACs, WAVES, and SPARS all attended as well as many high-ranking male
officers of the corresponding services.<147>
Policy about Assignment and Housing
From the beginning, the Marine Corps decided that Women Marines would be
assigned "only to posts where their services have been requested."<148> The
matter of proper housing facilities, in connection with assignment to duty,
was a major consideration. The early November 1942 Plans and Policies survey,
which had sought estimates on the number of women needed by different posts
had also requested information regarding the quarters available for their use.
Women were not to be assigned to posts lacking proper housing unless they can
be quartered with the WAVES or other satisfactory arrangements can be
made."<149>
It was also a policy that no less than two women would be assigned to a
station or sub-station, a move designed to "prevent loneliness and obviate
possible unfavorable comment."<150> No enlisted women were to be assigned to
a post unless a woman officer was present or in the near vicinity. As a
matter of practicality, it became the general rule not to assign a Woman
Marine officer to units of fewer than 25 women. The obvious exception, of
course, was in assignment to procurement offices in large cities. The
officer-to-enlisted ratio was projected at 5.7 percent.<151>
Upon completion of their training, women were assigned to duty on posts
and stations where they were under the authority of the commanding officer of
their unit, who in turn reported to the commanding officer of the post. In
respect to their
38
quarters, mess facilities, and general administration the Women Marines were
usually a relatively autonomous unit. Women Marines living on the regular
posts had their own barracks area which they maintained themselves. In cases
where MCWR personnel were stationed in cities, the question arose whether to
obtain barracks for them or put them on subsistence, a monetary allowance to
compensate for food and living costs. Where only a few were on duty, such as
the procurement stations, the women were naturally put on subsistence. In
Washington, D. C., where as many as 2,400 Women Marines were on duty,
Henderson Hall was build and operated as an independent post. The health,
feeding, military attitude, and discipline of the Women Reservists were all
improved when barracks were available for them. This was due to the fact that
when living together as a military unit, the women felt more like Marines than
they did when they lived scattered throughout a duty area, and they also
enjoyed more of a sense of comradeship with one another.<152>
In many cases, the work of the women was supervised by male officers, but
every-day matters of discipline and command questions were left to the Women's
Reserve officer. Despite the unique theoretical concept of dual supervision,
in practice it usually worked well. In the few instances of serious
disciplinary problems, male commanding officers usually sought the advice of
the senior Women's Reserve officer on their posts before handling the
matter.<153>
Assistants for the Women's Reserve
In the fall of 1943, the buildup of the Women's Reserve witnessed the
assignment of thousands of women to far-flung posts throughout the country.
It became imperative to have some type of regular reporting system so that
Marine Corps Headquarters would know immediately of all pertinent matters
beyond those which were vital enough to be committed to official
correspondence, those learned first-hand by the Director's field visits, or
those heard informally through the military's oldest information media, the
grapevine.
Accordingly, the senior woman officer at stations where Women Marines
were serving was designated as an "Assistant for the Women's Reserve."<154>
She was responsible for keeping in close touch with the Director and advising
her on all matters of welfare, health, jobs, training, housing, recreation,
and discipline. The Assistant for Women's Reserve activities was likewise
responsible for keeping the post commanding officer informed on anything that
pertained to the women under his jurisdiction. The procedure of a monthly
written report was instituted. This was sent every month by the post
Assistant for the Women's Reserve to Marine Corps Headquarters with a copy to
the post commanding officer. It contained information on all aspects of the
women's jobs and well-being as well as "full remarks concerning items of
special interest at the station."<155> These monthly reports supplemented
personal
39
visits of the Director, who made it a practice to spend a quarter of her time
away from her Washington desk to see for herself how the various units of the
Women's Reserve were operating throughout the country.<156>
Policy about Women's Authority
The authority of the women officers was exercised "over women of the
Reserve only" and was "limited to the administration of the Women's
Reserve."<157> In everyday practice it had been determined that the
"relationship of women officers or noncommissioned officers to enlisted men in
the administration of their work is similar to that of a civilian teacher in a
military school. While the woman officer may give instructions in connection
with the work, matters of discipline should be referred to the man's
commanding officer."<158>
Although the phrase "matters of discipline" was also interpreted
informally as "matters of job performance," the proper scope of the authority
of women officers when they were assigned to duties involving supervision over
male personnel continued to cause some uncertainty. Some months later the
Commandant felt it necessary to issue further clarification.
"It appears that the services of officers and non-commissioned officers
of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve are not being utilized to the fullest
extent due to some doubt as to the scope of their authority," he observed in
March 1944. This matter has been considered by the Navy Department he
continued, and "it is concluded that it is entirely proper for a woman officer
to be assigned to duty subordinate to a commanding officer and her directions
and orders in the proper performance of such duty are the acts of the officer
in command, even though such orders are directed to male personnel."<159>
Thus, within discretion of individual male commanding officers, the door was
opened for Women Marine officers to be detailed to duties such as adjutant,
assistant adjutant, personnel officer, or mess officer "where the directions
and orders necessary in the performance of such duties" were "considered as
emanating from the commanding officer."<160>
Changing Policy on Marriage
Originally, when recruiting opened--in February 1943, a Woman Marine
could be either single or married, so long as her children were not under 18
and she was not married to a Marine. This regulation had been issued by the
Secretary of Navy and applied equally to prospective WAVES, SPARS, and
Marines, none of whom could be enlisted or appointed if their husbands were in
the same service. Furthermore, a member of the Naval Reserve "could not while
in service marry an officer or enlisted man in the same service."<161>
40
Early in March 1943, however, the Secretary of the Navy approved a
modification of these existing rules which allowed a member of the Naval
Reserve to marry after she entered the service. Single women merely had to
execute an agreement not to marry "during the period of their indoctrination
or training."<162> Naturally the question arose as to what was meant
precisely by the qualifying phraseology. Here the Marine Corps developed a
rather generous attitude, decreeing that a woman's basic training (either boot
or candidates' school) constituted her "period of indoctrination or training"
rather than her entire period of training which often included an additional
month or so at a specialist school. The distinction was made because
indoctrination lasted for only six weeks during which the women were "learning
the principles of military life" and the fact that obligations assumed
thereafter by the women "must be secondary to their obligation to the Marine
Corps."<163> On the other hand, specialist schools often lasted as long as
four months and it was felt that "at the rate that men in the military service
are now being sent overseas, this delay would often mean that the couple could
not get married at all."<164>
The policy about marriage was modified again in late 1943 when wives of
Marines "below the rank of second lieutenant" were allowed to enlist.
Originally, the Marine Corps had not concurred with the WAVES in the
preliminary discussion that led to this decision, and thus added the following
warning when the change was effected: Each wife shall be made to understand
that the probability of being stationed with her husband is very slight, and
that consideration cannot be given to personal desires in the matter."<165>
On balance, the record shows the Marine Corps tried to steer a reasonable,
realistic course between outright forbidding of service marriages, which might
simply aggravate other problems, and being too lenient about widespread
marriage which might, in turn, easily work out not to be in the best interests
of the service itself.
Discipline and Morale
For the most part, discipline was administered according to the rules
already established for the men of the Marine Corps. Women, however, could
not be put in brigs or prisons, but were confined to quarters. A Women's
Reserve officer in the discipline division reviewed all disciplinary cases and
consulted the Director for further recommendations. Within the first year and
a half, nearly 90 percent of the women were organized into battalions and
squadrons, under command of their own women officers. At this time, the
commanding officers were given the authority to convene deck and summary
courts martial. Women officers were assigned to courts which tried members of
the Women's Reserve. Punishment included confinement to quarters, loss of
pay, reduction in rank, extra police duties,
41
and, in extreme cases, dishonorable or bad conduct discharge. Pregnancy was
considered a medical rather than disciplinary case.<166>
Much thought and effort were given to trying to maintain morale at a high
level so that disciplinary action would not be necessary. Recreation and
educational services were considered very important in this respect. The
necessity of discipline and high standards in every aspect of behavior and
work was stressed from the time a recruit set foot in camp. The Women's
Reserve subscribed to the philosophy that a "slack ship" is not a happy ship,
let alone an efficient one, and directed its personnel and regulations
accordingly. It was found entirely possible to maintain high standards in an
organization of women and still be humane and understanding in dealing with
them.<167>
Officers were thoroughly indoctrinated with the principle that they must
be readily available to their enlisted women for "informal personal counsel
and advice on matters other than military."<168> Many officers set aside a
regular time, often from 1630 to 1700 daily, or at least several times weekly,
so that any woman could get private counsel. This tended to keep morale high
and reduce problems of adjustment to military life which otherwise might
result in disciplinary troubles. The importance of keeping personnel
well-informed was also stressed. The guiding philosophy expressed by Colonel
Streeter was that "the most able commanders, be they men or women, are those
who take the best care of their people and who keep them out of trouble by
anticipating the problems that may confront them."<169>
VII. People in the Program
For decades the Marine Corps has prided itself on the colorful and
unusual personalities it seems to attract to its ranks. This situation held
true for the women in World War II, many of whom seemed to have a special
sense of derring-do and esprit.
The slogan "Once a Marine, always a Marine" was true for two women who
had served as Marines during World War I and again reentered. One of these
was Mrs. Martrese Thek Ferguson, a member of the first candidates' class to
train at Mount Holyoke College in May 1943. Not only was Mrs. Ferguson a
member of the class, but she led it, graduating in the number one spot and
being commissioned a first lieutenant. She could boast too, not only of
Victory and Good Conduct medals from World War I but of two service sons, one
of whom was a Marine. She later rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and
was commanding officer in charge of more than 2,000 women at Henderson
Hall.<170>
42
Another woman who wore the Marine green uniform in both wars was Mrs.
Lillian O'Malley Daly. One of the eight women who came to the Corps directly
from civilian life in January and February 1943, she was immediately assigned
to Camp Pendleton, California, where she served as the West Coast liaison
officer. Captain Daly was stationed there at the time Major Streeter and her
public relations assistant, First Lieutenant E. Louise Stewart, made their
first nationwide recruiting trip in February and March 1943. It was at Camp
Pendleton and nearby Camp Elliott that these three new women officers tried
their skill at the rifle range, jumped from the parachute tower, flew with
paratroopers making their first jump, and rode in tanks.<171>
Another officer who shared a similar background was Major Helen G.
O'Neill, who was also one of the first Women Marines in World War II. She had
been a Chief Yeoman in the Navy during World, War I. She had the distinction
of being a 25-year civilian employee of the Navy Department. Prior to her
commissioning in the Women's Reserve she had served as secretary to four
Assistant Secretaries of the Navy. She had organized the National Yeoman F, a
group of ex-servicewomen of the U. S. Naval Reserve from World War I and had
served as one of its top officers. Major O'Neill was also a linguist who had
studied French, Spanish, and Latin, and was later to concentrate on
Russian.<172>
Captain Frances W. Pepper was another member of the Marine Corps Women's
Reserve with an unusual background. Graduating as top-ranking member of the
third candidates' class in June 1943, she was appointed as a captain, the
first woman to receive this rank from any class of aspiring officers. Her
service to the Marine Corps dated from 1923, when she joined the Adjutant and
Inspector Department of Headquarters. Her work there dealt with appointments,
retirement, discharge, and promotion of all commissioned and warrant officers
on active duty in the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve. Captain Pepper
held a Bachelor of Law degree, was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in
1931, and later did post-graduate work in the field of international law.
During World War 1, she served with the Young Women's Christian Association at
General Pershing's Headquarters in France.<173>
As a civilian in World War I, Major Helen N. Crean won a Croix de Guerre'
for heroism under fire. She organized a canteen for the Fifth Regiment of
Marines at Naix-au-Forge and the Verdun sector and, working though the
hospitals, secured information on the wounded and missing. Later she served
at the Red Cross dressing station at Glorieux, France, when it was badly
bombed and machine gunned--and her fearlessness won her the French medal. In
World War II, she was commanding officer of the Women's Reserve unit at the
Marine Corps Air Station, Santa Barbara, California, and later at the air
station in Ewa, Hawaii.<174>
43
A woman reservist with an international background was Charlotte Day
Gower, named director of training for the Women's Reserve. Formerly Dean of
Women at Lingnan University, in Hong Kong, China, she had been there when the
Japanese assault began in that city and had organized first aid stations and
helped in rescue work. A prisoner in a Japanese internment camp for five
months, Major Gower had taught Chinese to fellow inmates and was later
repatriated in an exchange of prisoners.
Trapped in a similar set of circumstances was Staff Sergeant Mary
Virginia Herst, of Argonia, Kansas. She was a home economics teacher in
Bangkok, Thailand when the Japanese attacked and spent nine months in a prison
camp before being repatriated. She was later attached to the Marine Corps Air
Station, El Toro, California.
The Pacific Theather of Operations was also more than a headline to
Marine Private First Class Peggy Urzendowski. Having spent most of her life
in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines, she was on Corregidor during two
fierce bombing raids before being evacuated on a troop ship enroute to New
Zealand. From there she was sent to Australia, then Hawaii, and finally the
United States--where she quickly enlisted in the Women's Reserve add was
assigned to duty at the Marine Corps Base, San Diego, California.<175>
The Women's Reserve Band
If the Women's Reserve listed some unusual personalities in its midst, an
unusual and famed institution that came into being during the war years was
the Marine Corps Women's Reserve Band. Organized at Camp Lejeune with an
initial allowance of 43 women, it was formed with the high-spirited goal of
becoming "the most outstanding female band of the country."<176>
To secure the best possible musical talent, the Marine Corps wrote
letters to more than a dozen prominent and well-established music schools and
colleges, acquainting them with the band and asking them to recommend possible
candidates. As a result many women applied for the band before enlistment and
joined the service with the express purpose of becoming a member of the band.
Women already enrolled in the Reserve also had an opportunity to try out for
the band and, if sufficiently talented, to be accepted. All prospects were
screened and severely auditioned before being selected as members. The band
was organized in November 1943 by Captain William F. H. Santelmann, and was
trained by musicians of the U. S. Marine Band. Its director was Master
Sergeant Charlotte Plummer, who prior to her enlistment had been director of
music in the Portland, Oregon public school system and a member of the city's
municipal band.<177>
44
The band's home base was Camp Lejeune, where it played at the weekly
Saturday morning MCWR Recruit Depot reviews. It also performed on every
Marine Base on the east coast and toured many cities, playing before such
distinguished personalities as President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz. At the request of the U. S. Treasury Department the band
took part in two war bond and victory loan drives. Its theme song "March of
the Women Marines" was written especially for the band by Master Sergeant
Louis Saverino and Technical Sergeant Emil Grasser. Probably the red-letter
day for the band itself was in October 1945 when, on tour in Washington to
take part in the Nimitz Day parade, it serenaded the Commandant, General
Alexander A. Vandegrift, outside his office in the Navy Annex.<178>
Quantico's Drill Team
One military accomplishment long connected with the Marine Corps in the
public's mind has been excellence of drill and military bearing. While all
Women Marines took pride in their ability to maintain this reputation, one
group particularly distinguished itself. This was the trick drill platoon of
the Women's Reserve Battalion, Marine Corps Base, Quantico which gave special
performances for visiting dignitaries and appeared at many social and military
functions. Organized in April 1944, the trick drill team was complimented on
a letter from Brigadier General Archie R. Howard. In his commendation
message, he noted particularly that the excellence of the team's work "has
been attained by personal sacrifice of many liberty hours, in as much as all
time devoted to instruction has been entirely voluntary and in addition to
regular assignments."<179>
Personalities in the WRs
Many Women Marines created news from the time of their enlistment. For
example, there was Marine Private Natica R. Macy who was living in Bermuda
when she heard about formation of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve. She
immediately hopped an ancient Greek freighter bound for the States, wound up
being the sole woman aboard the vessel and did a man-size load of chores for
her passage--including painting woodwork, caulking decks, mending socks, and
standing watch. "It was the first available transportation," she explained
simply.<180>
The first full-blooded Indian recruit was Private Minnie Spotted-Wolf of
Heart Butte, Montana, who enlisted in July 1943. Despite her slight 114-pound
frame, the 20-year old Indian girl had driven a two-ton truck, cut fence
posts, erected bridges, and broken horses on her father's ranch. Her comment
on boot camp training: "Hard, but not too hard."<181>
Two other Marine representatives of the Indian race were Privates Celia
Mix, of Benton Harbor, Michigan and Viola Eastman, from Pipestone, Minnesota.
Celia's brother, Corporal
45
John Mix, was a Marine who had made headlines by winning the Air Medal for
heroism in saving the life of a fighter pilot who had crashed into the South
Pacific Ocean. Celia was on her way to setting a record of her own: she went
all the way through boot camp without receiving one restriction or
demerit.<182>
The first Woman Marine from Puerto Rico was Private Norma Frances Aran,
who had formerly been a civilian employee of the Army. She reported her
enlistment came as no surprise to her employer, commenting: "the Army had
known for a long time that my heart was with the Navy." Another who deserted
the Army to join the Marines was Virginia Carter, whose father, Master
Sergeant William S Carter, stationed at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, was a
26-year veteran of Army service. Virginia saw 2,000 persons march in a
military parade held on the base in her honor, including WACs, an Italian
unit, and three bands.<183>
Another Woman Marine who created news was Captain Lily S. Hutcheon, one
of the original 19 ex-WAVES, who in May 1944 became the first woman Judge
Advocate in the history of the Marine Corps, assigned to duty at Camp Lejeune,
North Carolina. Before receiving her commission, she had been employed in the
legal department of a San Francisco oil company.<184>
There were a number of sisters who enlisted together in the Women's
Reserve and several sets of identical twins. The latter included Betty and
Bonnie Jernigan, from Sparta, Tennessee, first set of twins to enlist in the
MCWR; Madelene A. and Irene A. Spencer, who were on recruiting duty in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Mary E. and Martha H. Taylor, who were
stationed in the Dallas Procurement District.<185>
Although a number of American parents routinely faced the departure of
two members of their family when sisters left for recruit training, a novel
situation occurred to one Philadelphia family early in 1944. They "lost" two
members to the Marines when Private Ruth H. Whiteman enlisted and took her
Doberman Pinscher, Eram Von Lutenheimer, along to join the Marine Corps War
Dog Detachment at Camp Lejeune.<186>
And of course many women were in a sense Marine Corps women long before
their enlistment, by virtue of having fathers, brothers, or uncles in the
service. Among these was Mary Cleland Fordney, a granddaughter of Major
General Ben Hebard Fuller, 14th Commandant of the Marine Corps, and whose
father, Colonel Chester L. Fordney, was Officer-in-Charge of the Central
Procurement Division of the Marine Corps. Another was Eugenia Dickson
Lejeune, daughter of the late Lieutenant General John A. Lejeune, Commandant
from 1920 to 1929. She underwent basic training at Camp Lejeune, named in
honor on her father. She and Second Lieutenant Fordney were both members of
the seventh officers' class, graduated
46
15 November 1943. Also a member of this same class was Second Lieutenant
Patty Berg, golf professional and queen of the fairways, who had enlisted in
the Marine Corps at a women's services recruitment/golf tourney and whose
birthday, 13 February, was the same as the anniversary date of the Women's
Reserve. She purposely left her clubs at home for the duration declaring she
wanted to be "strictly a Marine," and was assigned to recruiting duties in the
Eastern Procurement Division.<187>
Another woman with Marine Corps interests at heart and at home was
Private First Class Aline Bernice Shelton, of Phoenix, Arizona, the ninth
member of her family to be a Marine. She enlisted as soon as it was possible
for her to do so: on her 20th birthday. One of her brothers was a prisoner of
war and several others had hazardous Pacific duty. Helen Kemp Devereux,
20-year-old niece of Lieutenant Colonel James P. Devereux, still a prisoner of
the Japanese in 1945, also enlisted in the MCWR. Petite 95-pound Helen also
had three brothers, six other uncles, and one cousin, all of whom were
Marines. There was even a tradition of women Marines in Helen's family: one
of Colonel Devereux's sisters had been a Marinette in World War I!<188>
A Woman Marine who followed her mother's footsteps by joining the Marine
Corps was Private First Class Grace E. Mather, believed to be the only WR able
to claim the honor of being a second-generation Woman Marine. Her mother was
the former Corporal Helen M. Dunn, who had worked in the muster roll section
at Washington during World War I.<189>
Other WR Interests and Activities
In addition to regular duty assignments, varied wartime activities of the
Women Reservists ran the gamut from participating in christening ceremonies of
the "Lady Leatherneck," a Marine Corps transport plane--to blood donations,
visiting the wounded at Arc and Navy hospitals, volunteering in extra civic
duties, public appearances, and war bond rallies. As for buying bonds--that
was routine. Ninety-four percent of the women bought them every month.<190>
A number of women with a studious bent also enrolled in correspondence
courses given by the Marine Corps Institute, with Spanish being the most
popular choice. Other courses taken by the women included stenographic
lessons, short-wave radio theory and mathematics, aviation, motion picture
sound technicians's course, a current event analysis, "The Pacific World," and
--with an eye toward their own destinies--cooking and sewing courses. More
than 10 percent of the women took advantage of Marine Corps Institute
instruction.<191>
Decorations Awarded Women Marines
The highest award made to a Woman Marine as a result of World War II
service was the Legion of Merit, awarded the two
47
wartime Directors, Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter and Colonel Katherine A.
Towle. Two women, Majors Helen N. Crean and Marion Wing, received the Bronze
Star Medal. Letters of Commendation and Commendation Medals were presented to
more than 30 enlisted women and officers of the Women's Reserve. As a result
of World War II service, Women Marines were eligible to wear the Good Conduct
Medal, American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal.<192>
VIII. Hawaii Duty
Scuttlebutt was rampant during the summer and early fall of 1944
concerning the possibility of Women Marines being sent overseas for the first
time. For more than a year Congress had debated the issue, which involved
amending the Naval Reserve Act of 1938 to allow women members of the naval
service to serve outside the continental limits of the United States.
Although originally there had been serious objection voiced in the House,<193>
suddenly it looked as if the Senate would take favorable action, spurred on by
the Senate Naval Affairs Committee, on its companion bill. As yet there had
been no official word as to whether Women Marines would be needed in overseas
billets, such as Pearl Harbor, to release additional men for combat duty in
the final push to victory. A number officers back from the Pacific, however,
including Lieutenant General Holland M. Smith, had "mentioned the matter
informally."<194> An estimated 5,000 naval servicewomen were needed
immediately in Hawaii alone, Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal had told
Congress.<195>
On 13 September, the Senate passed the bill which was subsequently
adopted by the House and signed into law by the President on 27 September
1944. This bill (Public Law 441, 78th Congress) modified the existing
Department of Navy regulations and thus permitted "female Naval personnel to
serve on a volunteer basis anywhere within the western Hemisphere, including
Alaska and Hawaii."<196>
Excitement ran high among members of the Women's Reserve when it was
apparent that some of them would be going overseas. As for the Women's
Reserve Director, she knew that passage of the legislation would precipitate a
host of new problems and procedures and, in fact, had already anticipated some
of them. Back in July she had submitted tentative policies for selection of
personnel in the event overseas service of women was authorized and needed by
the Marine Corps.<197>
The Marine Corps contemplated sending one group of women to Pearl Harbor
to form the Women's Reserve Battalion attached to the Marine Garrison Forces,
and another smaller detachment to the Marine Air Station at Ewa. To find out
exactly what
48
the conditions were in Hawaii for this new duty, Colonel Streeter and Major
Marion B. Dryden, the senior Women's Reserve personnel officer in the Division
of Aviation, set out on a fact-finding mission on 13 October. Flying to
Hawaii, they inspected the area and talked with both Marine and Navy officers
to learn the principal job categories of men to be released for combat, what
quarters were available for the women or could be converted for their use, the
existing chain of command, recreation opportunities, regulations and
procedures followed by service personnel on the island, and related matters.
Upon their return they recommended assignment of two detachments of Women
Marines, as originally planned. Although the two new units were to be
administered separately by their own women commanding officers, ultimately
both were to come under the final jurisdiction of the 14th Naval
District.<198>
Selection of Women for Overseas Duty
Every woman who volunteered for Hawaiian duty was carefully screened.
Selection was based partly on length of service in the Marine Corps, but
primarily on the job classification of the men to be relieved. The principal
job categories included clerical, communications, quartermaster, telephone
operators, mechanical, motor transport, and radio operators. In the group
chosen were a number of women whose brothers had been killed in action, had
become prisoners of war, or who still had relatives on the fighting
front.<199>
A sense of responsibility, maturity, adaptability, and emotional
stability were the chief personal characteristics considered necessary in the
candidates.
In addition, other necessary qualifications were at least six months'
service on active duty, excluding training time; good health, conduct, and
work records; and freedom from any form of dependency which would require
their presence at home. This was particularly important since overseas duty
was for a two-year period, and leave or furlough to return to the States has
to be authorized only under extreme emergency.<200>
Because of the wording in the enabling legislation, it was necessary that
a woman naval reservist specifically volunteer for the overseas duty; she
could not be ordered to it. In processing applications, careful consideration
was given to a woman's motivations for volunteering. Any notions of
excitement or so-called glamour attached to the duty were sharply dispelled by
the Marine Corps. A memorandum to Colonel Streeter from Brigadier General
Waller, now Commanding General, Marine Garrison Forces in Hawaii, focused
attention on the facts: "All WRs should be informed this duty here is not
glamorous--just hard work," he advised "They will be under more restrictions
than at home and their working and living conditions
49
may not be as good....They will be closer to the war, they will see ships
damaged in combat and they will see and meet many men who have recently been
in combat...."<201>
One recommendation which had come from the Canadian Women's Army Corps
and which became implicit in Marine Corps' thinking was that a volunteer
should have demonstrated she can "maintain good adjustment when her work is
dull or monotonous or when she has to work under pressure or conditions of
strain."<202> This, too, was an important consideration. All operations in
Hawaii worked a seven-day week, and although regular schedules of half-day or
one full day a week liberty were arranged, in times of crisis an installation
not infrequently worked around the clock until a particular priority job was
completed.
Advance Party
On 2 December, an advance party of four officers flew to Hawaii to make
preliminary arrangements for the organization and reception of the battalion
of approximately 100 housekeeping personnel which would follow shortly, as
well as the eventual full complement of nearly 1,000 Women Marines. Members
of this initial group were Major Marion Wing, who was one of the original 19
ex-WAVES and who was assigned as Commanding Officer at Pearl Harbor; First
Lieutenant Dorothy C. McGinnis, Adjutant at Pearl Harbor; First Lieutenant
Ruby V. Bishop, Battalion Quartermaster; and Second Lieutenant Pearl M.
Martin, Recreation Officer.<203>
They were followed by the advance party for the aviation unit, consisting
of Captain Helen N. Crean, Commanding Officer at Ewa; First Lieutenant
Caroline J. Ransom, Post Exchange Officer; Second Lieutenant Constance M.
Berkolz, Pearl Harbor Mess Officer; and Second Lieutenant Bertha K. Ballard,
Mess Officer at Ewa.<204>
Staging Area and Arrival in Hawaii
In January 1945, the first volunteers for overseas duty were transferred to a
staging area which had been established at the Marine Corps Based San Diego,
California. Here they were given a short but intensive physical conditioning
course including qualification swimming, drill, and calisthenics. The women
also learned to ascend and descend, with a full 10-pound pack on their packs,
the cargo net of a ship mock-up and how to jump properly into the water from
shipboard, in event they should be aboard a transport that met with enemy
attack en route to its destination.<205>
They were also given physical examinations, inoculations, a brief review
in certain phases of Marine Corps administration and organization, inspection
of uniforms and gear, lectures
50
about the people of Hawaii, Allied insignia, safeguarding of military
information, procedures on shipboard, and a final screening.<206>
On 25 January, the first contingent of 160 enlisted and five WR officers
sailed from San Francisco aboard the S. S. Matsonia.<207> Dressed in winter
greens and trench coats and carrying blanket rolls, the women marched up the
gangplank and aboard ship in column and proceeded to assigned quarters. Two
days out at sea they changed to summer service uniforms, which would be the
uniform of the day for the length of their Hawaii duty. En route, the women
staged their own entertainment show and performed the long-familiar ritual of
policing their own area.<208>
The Matsonia arrived in Honolulu on the morning of 28 January. Captain
Marna V. Brady, Officer-in-Charge of the voyage, who was assigned as Battalion
Executive Officer, led the first enlisted women to disembark, was greeted with
the customary Hawaiian lei and kiss.<209>
To one Woman Marine the overseas assignment was a trip home! She was
Corporal Alice M. Philpotts, who came to the States from her home in Honolulu,
only a few miles southeast of Pearl Harbor, to enlist in the Marines and who
had been at Pearl Harbor on the date of the attack.<210>
For the rest of the women, however, Hawaii was as much a novelty as they
were to the islands. From the crowds assembled at dockside there were cheers
by residents, civilian war workers, and servicemen; tons of colorful floral
leis; the flash bulbs of photographers; and amazed expressions of male Marines
who had never seen a Woman Marine before. The Pearl Harbor Marine Barracks
band alternated between the soft tune of the traditional Aloha Oe, and the
martial strains of the Marine Hymn and official March of the Women Marines.
The women were quickly dispatched to their new homes: the majority to the
Moanalua Ridge area, where the Women's Reserve Battalion occupied a former
Seabee area adjacent to the Marine Corps Sixth Base Depot and Camp Catlin; the
air group to the nearby Marine Air Station, at Ewa, on the island of
Oahu.<211>
On the streets people stopped to smile and wave at the women. When they
filed into the mess hall for their first meal, a little dog growled at the
unusual sight of green-uniformed women but quickly subsided when a messman
exclaimed: "Knock it off, Taffy. After all, they're Marines, too!"<212>
In Hawaii, as in the States, the Women Marines replaced men not only in
office jobs but in-specialized work as well. They stood night watches in
communications and other duty assignments, and generally worked the same hours
as the men.
51
At Pearl Harbor, the women ran the entire motor transport section, which
served approximately 15,900 persons a month including liberty busses, work
detail trucks, and jeeps--all with a perfect safety record. A total of 33
vehicles were operated by the section, working a 24-hour-a-day schedule.<213>
Women Marines assigned to the air station found that duty was much like
aviation jobs anywhere. They had little trouble orienting themselves, as
general surroundings and living conditions were not much different from those
of mainland air stations. In fact, more than one-third of all the women had
previously been stationed at Cherry Point.<214>
New detachments from the States of approximately 200 enlisted women and
10 officers arrived every other week. By the time the fourth group had
arrived, the WR Battalion was a smoothly-running outfit. The appearance of
the quarters area had measurably changed for the good. Shrubs, small trees,
and blooming plants appeared to have sprung up almost overnight. Detailed by
their Brigade Headquarters, the Seabees had done the construction and
renovation work on the administration building, barracks, mess-hall, and
laundry. The women pitched in on landscaping the area and helping the
Seabees. As one Marine good-naturedly grumbled at the time: "The Army has its
WACS; the Navy, its WAVES; the Coast Guard, its SPARS; and the Seabees, OUR
Marines!"<215>
From the day of arrival, the women were in such social demand that
requests to entertain them had to be screened through an enlisted women's
council which decided, on behalf of all the WRs, just what unit of the
infantry, artillery, cavalry, Sea-bees, engineers, tanks, etc., could be
granted acceptances. On several occasions, weekend air hops were arranged so
that the women could visit the Marine detachments on the islands of Hawaii and
Maui.<216>
And of course, the inevitable happened. In May 1945, a Marine combat
correspondent wrote a little history of his own when he married a Woman
Marine. The principals in this first all-Marine overseas wedding were
Sergeant Dorothy Jeanne Crane, a photographer on duty with the Marine Garrison
Forces, and Staff Sergeant Robert T. Davis. Although the bride wore
traditional white bridal gown and finger-tip veil, the tropical touch was
apparent in the white orchid tiara and pikaki leis in her bouquet. Most of
the guests were men and women Marines. One of the few civilians present was
Representative Margaret Chase Smith, only woman member of the House Naval
Affairs Committee, who had helped draft legislation for the overseas bill and
who was then in Hawaii on an investigative tour.<217>
Approximately 1,000 women saw duty with the Marine Garrison Forces at
Pearl Harbor and at the Marine Corps Air Station at
52
Ewa, and nearly all agreed that overseas duty made them feel they were taking
a more active part in winning of the war. Announcement of V-J Day in September
1945 brought their expected two-year duty stint to an abrupt halt. The first
group of women left Hawaii early in December 1945, in time to make words of
the then-popular lyric "I'll be Home for Christmas" really ring true. The
rest returned Stateside the following month. And despite the sudden cessation
of hostilities and the victorious war news, many Women Marines still couldn't
help being disappointed at having such "wonderful duty" cut short.<218>
IX. Demobilization
With the ending of hostilities on 14 August 1945 and V-J Day on 2
September, all recruiting for the Women's Reserve was halted although women in
training classes continued until completion and were assigned to duty.
Actually, since the Marine Corps had reached its original goal of
approximately 18,000 enlisted and 1,000 officers in the summer of 1944
recruiting had been deliberately slowed down and the comparatively small
number of women who had entered the MCWR toward the end of the war had been
largely replacements for normal attrition.<219>
Demobilization plans moved ahead rapidly and efficiently, under an
"Adjusted Service Rating System" of points, similar to that for the men.
Computation of these discharge credits was the same for the women as the men.
However, since the Women Marines were able to earn credits only by length of
service (not having been in combat or having dependent children) the number of
credits required for discharge was originally set at 25, compared to 85 for
the men.<220>
The terminal date originally set for the Women's Reserve was 1 September
1946. All women were to be discharged by that time. Or, as the Headquarters
Marine Corps bulletin stated: "Officers and enlisted personnel of the Marine
Corps Women's Reserve are now being rapidly separated from the service because
of the fact that the entire Women's Reserve is to be demobilized by 1
September 1946."<221>
With the Marine Corps candor the women had learned to love and respect,
the Commandant added:
"It was with some hesitation the Marine Corps admitted women to its ranks
in February 1943, but during the intervening years they have made a most
valuable contribution to the Corps...
"As the time comes to release them, I am reminded again of the important
part they have played in support of our combat Marines while the actual
fighting was in progress...
53
"I wish to express to the members of the Women's Reserve the appreciation
of the Marine Corps for the valuable contribution they have made for its
success. They have performed their duties in a manner that evokes the
admiration and praise of their fellow Marines; and their conduct and
appearance, both on and off duty, have been exemplary and a source of pride to
us all."<222>
A two-week "Rehabilitation School" for Women Reserve officers and
noncommissioned officers was set up at Headquarters and at Camp Lejeune. It
provided information about rights and benefits under the Veterans
Administration and G. I. Bill of Rights so they could properly advise the
women under their direction who were being discharged to civilian life. In
many cases letters of recommendation were written to former and prospective
employers. For women desiring high school credit, letters were written to
hometown high schools requesting credit on the basis of recruit training and
experience in the Women's Reserve. Colleges were also contacted for brochures
and information regarding entrance requirements. A poll taken by one group of
women being discharged showed that the most popular plans for the future, in
order, were: new employment, education, old employment, housewife, plans
"indefinite," and civil service.<223>
Computation of Credits
All credits for demobilization of the women were based on their length of
service and computed from 1 September 1945, the control date. The credits
were progressively reduced until, on 1 July 1946, they became zero. A woman
having 25 credits in September 1945 was eligible for immediate discharge; by
the following January, those with 18 credits could be discharged, and so
forth. The schedule of credit reductions and their effective dates, spelled
out by Letter of Instruction 1110, were:<224>
Effective date Credit
1 September 1945 25
1 November 1945 20
1 January 1946 18
1 February 1946 17
1 March 1946 16
1 April 1946 13
1 May 1946 8
1 June 1946 4
1 July 1946 0
Regardless of actual number of credits, immediate discharge upon request was
authorized for all women 38 years of age or more (later changed to 35 years);
or for a married woman if her servicemen husband had been discharged. Married
women with a year's active duty were also granted immediate release upon
54
request if their husbands were in the country, whether discharged or not, and
regardless of branch of service.<225>
Newspaper accounts in November 1945 quoted the Commandant as saying that
the Marine Corps Women's Reserve would be reduced from 18,000 enlisted and
1,000 officer strength to 2,638 and 200, respectively, by 30 June 1946 and
that the organization "will completely vanish from the picture by September of
next year."<226>
The MCWR was reduced to two-thirds of its peak strength by 7 December
1945. On that date its original Director, Colonel Streeter
(twice-promoted--to lieutenant colonel on 22 November 1943 and to colonel on 1
February 1944), resigned to be home for her three sons, all returning from
overseas duty. She was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel Katherine A. Towle, of
Berkeley, California, who assumed the Directorship and its rank of colonel on
the fourth anniversary of Pearl Harbor.<227>
Another long-familiar institution that went about this time was the
Women's Reserve Band. This was officially disbanded at Camp Lejeune on 28
November 1945 when 26 members were discharged under the credit provisions of
Letter of Instruction 1110. The remaining 21 members were reassigned in the
Women's Reserve Battalion. Low-point band members met at the Separation
Company on the morning the majority of band members were being discharged and
serenaded them. A gold identification bracelet bearing the woman's full name
and with the inscription "Thanks from Camp Lejeune" was presented to each
member of the band.<228>
Strength at End of the War
In August 1945, two and a half years after formation of the Marine Corps
Women's Reserve, there were approximately 17,640 women and 820 officers on
duty, or a total strength of 18,460. There were 28 units headed by women
commanding officers, plus 17 smaller units, and additional women assigned to
specialist duties, such as recruiting.<229>
Line units included Women's Reserve Battalions at Henderson Hall;
Quantico; Camp Lejeune; Parris Island; San Diego; Camp Pendleton; and Pearl
Harbor; the School Detachment at Camp Lejeune; and Women Marine companies at
San Diego; Department of Pacific, San Francisco, the Navy Yard at Mare Island,
California; and in Washington, D. C.<230>
Aviation units included those at Cherry Point; Quantico; Parris Island;
El Toro; Miramar; El Centro; Santa Barbara; Mojave; Ewa, Hawaii; and Eagle
Mountain Lake, Texas.<231>
55
The four quartermaster units to which Women Marines had been assigned
were: Depot of Supplies in Philadelphia; South Annex, Norfolk; Camp Elliott,
California; and Depot of Supplies, San Francisco.<232>
Women were also stationed at the four procurement districts: Eastern, at
Philadelphia; Southern, in Atlanta; Central, in Chicago; and Western, at San
Francisco.
Monthly Quota for Demobilization
The demobilization procedures for male personnel were paralleled for the
women: officers were released to inactive duty and enlisted women were
discharged. Beginning in October 1945, control of the release of Women's
Reserve personnel was in January 1946, the rate of discharge of enlisted women
was set at a minimum of approximately 1,100 each month. This figure was
selected because it would enable a gradual but steady reduction so that final
disbandment on 1 September 1946 could be accomplished smoothly, without any
operational inefficiency.<234>
When the number of Women Marines at any post or station became fewer than
100, that particular Women's Reserve activity was disbanded or transferred
administratively to an adjoining unit. All small and scattered units were
disbanded as quickly as possible, with the exception of a few "high priority"
units such as district rehabilitative and recruiting centers. Final
disbandment dates were also set for each post and station. When it came time
for the post to be officially closed, personnel still on duty were discharged,
if eligible, or transferred to another station.<235>
Morale was high despite the inevitable "anticlimactic" feeling that comes
with mopping-up operations. A big determinant was the fact that discharge of
those eligible moved along at a satisfactory rate. And there were plenty of
activities to keep a Woman Marine busy until her discharge papers came
through. At one base a small but enthusiastic group in a beginning French
class completed the rest of its lessons after its instructor was
discharged.<236> In December, Women Reserves at the Marine Corps Air Depot at
Miramar entered the 11th Naval District contest for suggestions on the
conversion of military clothing to civilian.<237> At Henderson Hall a
three-part lecture series, "You Are Prettier Than You Think" was given by Mrs.
Hanna Sherman, formerly associated with a leading New York cosmetic firm.
Lectures dealt with readjustment to civilian life--including makeup and
restyled hair, suggested plans for a new wardrobe, and job-hunting tips to
ex-Marines turned business girls. At the same base, a large number of women
officers volunteered for a day's mess duty during the holidays as a Christmas
present to the enlisted women.<238> And at the
56
big training base, Camp Lejeune, a collection of songs sung by Women
Reservists during their service in the Marine Corps was compiled and
distributed to each girl on the day of her discharge.<239> A statement made
in January 1946 by one Woman Marine officer was typical: "Standards of work
and attitude among the Women Reservists have continued to be high. There is
still the desire to serve faithfully and well."<240>
Separation Centers
When the demobilization process began, commanding officers were
authorized to discharge the women at their duty stations. To further expedite
matters, however, four separation centers were set up in October to process
discharges of the women. These were: Henderson Hall and Camp Lejeune on the
East coast; and the Marine Corps Base at San Diego and Marine Corps Air
Station, El Toro on the West coast. A unique arrangement existed at San
Diego. By special permission from Headquarters, the Women's Reserves
separation activities there became part of the male First Separation Company.
Women's Reserve rehabilitation personnel were available to the women and a
Woman Reserve officer served as Adjutant and Officer-in-Charge of the women
attached to the company. The arrangement worked well, and the women
themselves like being discharged with the men, as it gave them the feeling
they were very much a part of the Marine Corps even until the end.<241>
Besides the four major separation centers, small units and the
detachments at San Francisco and Parris Island were authorized to discharge
their own personnel. Women returning from Hawaii were transferred to the
separation center nearest their homes: those from the East or Middle Eastern
section of the country to Henderson Hall or Camp Lejeune; and persons from the
West or Southwest to either San Diego or El Toro.<242>
Last Days of the Wartime Reserve
By 2 June 1946, the Women's Reserve activities had been disbanded at
these major stations: Camp Lejeune (Women's Reserve Battalion); Parris Island;
and the Depot of Supplies, Philadelphia. By 1 July, WR units had been
de-activated at Quantico; Camp Lejeune (Women's Reserve Separation Center);
Camp Pendleton; and Marine Corps Air Depot, Miramar.<243>
The only Women's Reserve units remaining until the 1 September terminal
date were those at Henderson Hall and Cherry Point on the East Coast; and El
Toro and Department of the Pacific, San Francisco on the West. Women
Reservists remaining on duty between 1 July and 1 September were, with a few
exceptions, volunteers. The strength of the organization had been reduced to
approximately 1,000 women by 1 July, and this number was gradually decreased
in the final two-month period. During these last months, the majority of
Women
57
Marines still in uniform were stationed at Henderson Hall, on duty at Marine
Corps Headquarters.<244>
Upon termination of the Office of the Director of the Women's Reserve, on
14 June 1946, and prior to her return to civilian life, Colonel Towle, the
second Director observed:
"General morale during demobilization has been gratifyingly high. Part
of this has been due to the definite stand the Marine Corps itself has taken
from the beginning on the Marine Corps Women's Reserve demobilization,
particularly in setting and maintaining 1 September 1946 as the terminal date
of the wartime Women's Reserve. It has been a goal to work toward, and Marine
Corps women have never had the uncertainty and confusion concerning
demobilization which have occurred in some of the other women's services
because of the shifting of dates and changes in policy..."<245>
X. Overview
Since time immemorial military discipline and regimentation have been
routine and accepted for men. This type of training for women, on a large
scale, was a totally new concept in World War II. This immediately raises
several questions.
First: What civilian background or personality syndrome seemed to be the
best determining factor in developing military aptitude in a woman?
Second: Since women are generally considered the arch individualists of
the race, how did they react to military discipline and a situation in which
much of their life was planned and provided for, with less opportunity for
individuality?
Third: Did military experience in the MCWR have any lasting benefit on
the individual woman, besides giving her a feeling of actual participation in
winning the war?
Civilian Background--Actually, no one particular civilian occupation
seemed to prepare a woman for the unique responsibilities of military life.
Similarly, no special personality trait seemed to guarantee success. In
general, it can be said that qualities which helped a woman become a good
Marine included: a well-balanced personality; skill and efficiency in her
work; adaptability to new ways; energy; emotional stability; sense of
responsibility; and promptness in getting things done and carrying out
orders.<246>
Although the quality of leadership is difficult to define, it was found
that the best officers were those with strong personalities, who were able to
command respect and to motivate others effectively. Other important qualities
were responsibility,
58
fairness, good judgment, understanding and respect for others, professional
competence, good personal appearance, self-confidence, and emotional
stability.<247>
Reaction to the Military Life--As was true with all the women's services,
there was naturally a small percentage of misfits who would be unhappy in any
group situation, civilian or military. Most of the women, however, adjusted
quickly and well to military life and its inherent discipline. Surprised
drill instructors often found that the women seemed to snap into the esprit
and precision of close-order drill, for example, even faster than the men.
Furthermore, in a survey taken in the first months of the Marine Corps Women's
Reserve, it was found that a number of members complained there was "not
enough drill, not enough regimentation, too much like civilian life. Would
enjoy more militarism...."<248> Such changes in the direction of a more
military atmosphere were effected in July 1943, when all basic training for
the women was centralized at Camp Lejeune, where it remained throughout the
rest of the war.
Personal Benefit--Probably no woman has ever worn the Marine uniform
without gaining something new of permanent value to herself from the
traditional Marine Corps insistence on order, organization of work, strict
responsibility down to the last detail, getting things done right in a minimum
of time, self-discipline, pride, self-confidence, and flexibility. By sheer
necessity in the MCWR, most women learned new habits of first things first,
overcome indecision, take immediate action, and tackle unfamiliar (if not
downright distasteful) chores and get them out of the way. Then, too, there
was valuable personal training in doing those things which a woman at the
onset might have felt she didn't have real confidence she could do--such as
supervising the work of others.<249>
Like all good Marines, the women learned to improvise, to adjust quickly
and make the best of the situation--whether it was emergency-transportation to
a new duty station in miserable cattle trucks or entertaining the Director
graciously in their own barracks because of lack of conventional recreation
facilities.<250> As Colonel Streeter herself once noted in a discussion about
the effect of women being in the service: "Our members do not lose any of
their womanly qualities, but their health is improved and their point of view
changed by the military discipline they undergo. It is not an easy life, and
I am constantly surprised at their loyalty and endurance...."<251>
Education Background
Women Marines represented a variety of background and training. An
analysis of their educational background showed that out of 21,050 women
surveyed, a total of 13,824, or
59
approximately 88 percent, had completed high school. Since one of the
requirements for enlistment was two years of high school, this percentage was
not surprising. An additional 4,619 had attended college.<252> (See Appendix
B)
Regional Pattern of Enlistments
A geographical study of the residence of Women Marines revealed that 80
percent came from 18 states, while the other 30 states supplied only 20
percent. The states of California, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio supplied 12,769 Women Marines, or more than half
the total number. The fact that six of these states which supplied the most
women were also among the seven most-heavily populated states during the war
years shows a definite relationship in most cases between a state's population
figure and the number of women who joined. There are, however, several
interesting notes on the representation from the various states. For example:
although the state of Texas ranked sixth in population, it was fourteenth in
the number of women who enlisted in the Marine Corps. California during the
war years ranked fifth in population, but first in the number of Women Marines
enrolled. And Massachusetts, which ranked fourth in the number of women
enlisted, was eighth in total population.<253> (See Appendix C)
Regionally, the highest proportion of Women Marines came from the Middle
Atlantic states, the Central states, the Far West, and the Great Lakes states,
in that order.<254> From the beginning, it was more difficult to interest
women from the Southern states in enlisting. Recruiting officials in this
section had to work particularly hard to fill their monthly enlistment quotas.
As Director Streeter once wrote to an officer in New Orleans: "We at
Headquarters realize the difficulties faced by Procurement offices in the deep
South and appreciate the efforts which you are making to overcome sales
resistance in that area. Service in women's military organizations is a newer
idea in the deep South than in other parts of the country and more at variance
with their customs and traditions. However, I hope they may in time come to
see its importance...."<255>
In addition to maintaining a steady flow of enlistments to meet the needs
of both the enlisted and officer training programs, it was also necessary to
meet recruiting quotas designed to provide the Marine Corps with women
representing a balanced cross-section of the country.<256>
Composition of Reserve by Age and Test Scores
Primarily, the Women's Reserve was composed of women in their early 20s.
(See Appendix D) At the end of the war more than 60 percent of the officers
were in the 20-24 age
60
group. When recruiting opened in February 1943, an age range between 20 and
50 was allowed for officer candidates. This, at least theoretically, made it
possible to achieve a fairly balanced ratio between young officers and the
more professionally experienced, older ones. However, later that fall when
the officer classes were composed primarily of enlisted women and, in general,
closed to persons from civilian life (with the exception of a small number of
highly-qualified candidates), the age distribution shifted toward the younger
side and remained there. This did not cause any great problems, although a
better balance would have been considered desirable. There was also the
feeling that, particularly in the case of officers assigned to troop duty,
sometimes relatively young lieutenants carried a heavy load of responsibility
for their age that far outweighed commensurate duties in civilian life.<257>
The median age of all Women Marines was 24.05 years.<258>
In any organization such as the Women's Reserve it is desirable to have a
range of abilities represented by its members, since there are a number of
fairly routine jobs which have to be done.<259> Even in a wartime situation,
if there are too many over-qualified people in comparison to the work that has
to be done, it is sometimes difficult to escape the problem of
"under-assigning" personnel and this may result in dissatisfaction and lowered
morale. On the other hand, the enrollment of high-quality personnel in an
organization usually contributes considerably to its ease of administration
and general lack of serious disciplinary problems. It was found that the
frequency of minor disciplinary problems and maladjustments which occurred to
women in the lower General Classification Test groups (i.e., under 75 and in
the 75-88 GCT range) was "out of all proportion to their actual numbers."<260>
In the Women's Reserve, the vast majority of personnel ranked 89 or higher in
the standard aptitude test which measures basic intelligence and innate
learning ability. (See Appendix E)
Recruiting Results and Media Used
Recruiting figures showed that a total of 23,145 women were enlisted
during the war, and that only 965 ever held commissions. The Women's Reserve
achieved its recruiting goal of approximately 18,000 enlisted and 1,000
officers several weeks earlier than its target date of July 1944. Thus,
during the months of July and August 1944 there were virtually no Women
Marines accepted, to avoid the potential problem of supply in excess of number
of billets available. In September 1944, recruiting was reopened to provide
replacements for Women Reservists volunteering for duty overseas.<261>
The most successful media used to aid recruiting were, in order: radio,
newspaper publicity, posters and outdoor
61
advertising, and movies.<262> From the onset it was recognized that a good
public information program was essential to win continuing public support and
to attract the high caliber of personnel desired for the Women's Reserve. The
Division of Public Information of Marine Corps Headquarters released
information to all media about practically every aspect of the program. All
official MCWR publicity was kept on a high plane carefully avoiding the
come-on of glamour, foreign assignments, or the like. The women were told
their jobs were not glamorous but hard work, just as the individual Marine's
job in the Pacific was not glamorous.<263>
Not unexpectedly the most successful type of appeal was patriotism.
After V-E Day, 7 May 1945, it became harder to get good-quality Women Reserve
candidates, since the patriotic influence was no longer as strong. A survey
was conducted by the psychiatrist at the Camp Lejeune Recruit Depot when it
was operating at full strength in the winter of 1944. He did not select a
particular group, but simply asked questions of the first 1,000 recruits who
were taking their physical examinations at that time. They were told: "We
know that the desire to serve your country was your primary reason for
enlisting in the MCWR. What would you consider your secondary reason?" The
answers were as follows:<264>
Positive reasons
1. Because they had men in the service. 350
2. Because there were no men in their families who
could serve. 60
3. For revenge: their men had been killed. 40
4. For adventure. 150
5. To benefit themselves. 150
---------
750
Negative reasons
1. To "get away from something" such as a
distasteful job, family difficulties, etc. 250
---------
TOTAL 1,000
Other surveys conducted indicated that the majority of women were proud
to belong to the Marine Corps. They joined because they wanted to do a job
and get the war over. They picked the Marine Corps because to them it stood
for the highest in tradition, ability, and accomplishment.<265>
62
Overall Distribution by Rank
The original request to the Secretary of the Navy for authority to
organize a Marine Corps Women's Reserve asked for a distribution in the ranks
of officers to conform o that for enlisted Women Reservists the same as that
authorized for enlisted men of the Marine Corps. This was approved as
follows:<266>
Officers Enlisted
Major 1 1st Pay Grade 3.686%
Captain 35 2nd Pay Grade 5.73
1st Lt 35% of total author- 3rd Pay Grade 7.714
ized commissioned 4th Pay Grade 12.605
2nd Lt Balance 5th Pay Grade 23.956
6th Pay Grade 37.221
7th Pay Grade 9.087
-----------
100.000%
This initial distribution in rank of officers was modified on 25 November
and the following distribution was authorized:
Colonel 1
Lieutenant Colonel 2
Major 30
Captain 100
1st Lieutenant 240
2nd Lieutenant Balance
This also proved inadequate and was later modified. Final distribution
in rank was established in January 1945 following approval by the Secretary of
the Navy of a request by the Commandant for a plan that better met the needs
of the service. This new distribution provided for:
Colonel 1
Lieutenant Colonel 4
Major 36
Captain 200
1st Lieutenant 400
2nd Lieutenant Balance
"VIP" Statements about Wartime Reserve
How effectively Women Reservists lived up to their wartime recruiting
slogan "Free a Man to Fight" was expressed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
in the following message sent to them of the first anniversary of the Women's
Reserve, 13 February 1944:
"The nation is as proud of you as your fellow Marines--for Marine women
are upholding the brilliant traditions of the Corps with a spirit of loyalty
and diligence worthy of the
63
highest admiration of all Americans. you have quickly and efficiently taken
over scores of different kinds of duties that not long ago were considered
strictly masculine assignments; and in doing so, you have freed a large number
of well-trained, battle-ready men of the Corps for action...."<267>
Declared General Thomas Holcomb, the early wartime Commandant: "There's
hardly any work at our Marine stations that women can't do as well as men.
They do some work far better than men...What is more, they're real Marines.
They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They
inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines."<268>
Because of the recruiting slogan adopted by the Marine Corps when it
began enlisting women, the question of how many men were so freed was
naturally a subject of interest. The peak strength of the Women Reservists,
slightly less than 19,000, approximates a Marine Corps division. Therefore, a
remark always treasured by the women was the statement made by General
Alexander A. Vandegrift, the second wartime Commandant, who said they could
feel responsible for putting the 6th Marine Division in the field; for without
the women filling jobs throughout the Marine Corps there would not have been
sufficient men available to form that division.
On another occasion he observed: "With quiet assurance, and without
fanfare, they have learned quickly all tasks assigned to them. In doing so,
they have proved themselves so versatile and so adept that thousands of men
were released earlier than had been hoped, to take part in the great Pacific
drive which will continue on its relentless way....I have been equally
impressed with the manner in which they have taken the traditions of the Corps
to heart. They have developed and esprit worthy of the admiration of the most
thorough-going veteran in our ranks...."<269>
On the women's Reserve second anniversary, 13 February 1945, General
Vandergrift declared:
"Just two years ago, the United States Marine corps called on the women
of this country to help it meet the severest test in Marine Corps history....
"You responded generously. Thousands of you came forward of your own
free will to join the Corps.
"Today you number from approximately one-third to one-half of the post
troops at representative Marine posts and stations; and, as might be expected
from the type of work to be performed, your services have been particularly in
demand at Headquarters, where you fill 87 per cent of the enlisted
complement....Without you, we would be seriously handicapped."<270>
64
A statement that could be considered in the "VIP" category, because it
was doubtless representative of the thinking of so many Marines, was made by a
young corporal wounded at Guadalcanal, who said:
"Well, I'll tell you. I was kinda sore about it [the Women Marines] at
first. Then it began to make sense--though only if the girls are gonna be
tops, understand."
His friend, a sergeant, broke in. "Hell," he said, "they're gonna be
Marines, aren't they? They gotta be tops!"<271>
65
NOTES
(1) "Women in the War," 1944 Office of War Information folder (Subject File
"WOMEN MARINES--Enlistment," Historical Branch, Headquarters, U. S.
Marine Corps, hereafter HistBr, HQMC), pp. 6-7. WAACs, 15May42; WAVES,
30Jul42; SPARS, 23Nov42; Marines, 13Feb43.
(2) IBID., p. 9.
(3) Typed excerpt Chap XXXI "Women in the Navy," from Josephus Daniels,
OUR NAVY AT WAR (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--World War I," HistBr,
HQMC) pp. 328-329
(4) IBID.
(5) Col Ruth Cheney Streeter and LtCol Katherine A. Towle, "History of the
Marine Corps Women's Reserve - A Critical Analysis of Its Development
and Operation, 1943-1945" dtd 6Dec45 (HistBr, HQMC), p. 21, hereafter
Streeter, "History."
(6) Commandant of the Marine Corps (hereafter CMC) ltr to Secretary of the
Navy (hereafter SecNav), dtd 12Oct42 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female
Enrollment MCR #1," Central Correspondence Files, HQMC, hereafter CCF,
HQMC).
(7) IBID., Judge Advocate General 1st End, dtd 26Oct42.
(8) IBID., Commander-in-Chief U. S. Fleet 2d End, dtd 3Oct42.
(9) IBID., SecNav approval, dtd 31Oct42 and the President's approval, dtd
Nov42.
(10) CMC ltr to SecNav, dtd 14Nov42 (Folder 1535-55-100 Female Enrollment
MCR #1," CCF, HQMC).
(11) Col L. W. T. Waller, Jr., memo to CMC, dtd 12Jan43; CMC ltr to SecNav
dtd 14Nov42, citing Public Law 689, 77th Congress (Folder 1535-55-10
Female Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC).
(12) CMC ltr to Commanding Officers of every post and district, dtd 5Nov42
(Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC).
(13) Typed carbon draft "Brief of the History of Marine Corps Women's
Reserve," Hereafter "Brief History" (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--History," HistBr, HQMC), p. 3; Streeter, "History," p. 56.
---------------
Sources for the Introduction, p.1, follow Note (271)
66
(14) Division of Reserve (hereafter DivRes) memo to Quartermaster (hereafter
QM), dtd 5Jan43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #1", CCF,
HQMC).
(15) CMC ltr to Dean V. C. Gildersleeve, dtd 17Nov42 (Folder "1535-55-10
Female Enrollment MCR #1," CCf, HQMC).
(16) CMC ltr to Dean V. C. Gildersleeve, dtd 3Dec42, (Folder "1534-55-10
Female Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC); BGen L. W. T. Waller, Jr.
typewritten draft (hereafter "Waller Draft"), of Chapter II, Streeter
"History," p. 3, with ltr to Col R.C. Streeter, dtd 5Sep45, (Subject
File "WOMEN MARINES--History," HistBr, HQMC); Major Carroll B. Rhoads
ltr to Mr. Basil O'Connor, Dtd 12Dec42, (Folder "1535-55-10 Female
Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC); USMC release, n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--History," HistBr, HQMC).
(17) "Waller Draft", p. 2; CMC memo to AsstSecNav, dtd 17Dec42, (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC).
(18) Chief of Naval Personnel, CMC, and Commandant Coast Guard joint ltr to
SecNav, dtd 20Nov42 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #1," CCF,
HQMC; Letter of Instruction (hereafter LI) 281 dtd 11Dec42 (HistBr,
HQMC).
(19) Streeter, "History," pp. 22-23; Women Marines (hereafter WM) Director's
Office telephone conversation with HistBr, Aug 63.
(20) Col Waller memo to CMC, dtd 12Jan43 (Folder 1535-55-10 Female
Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC) ; The name SPAR was taken from the Coast
Guard motto, "Semper Paratus - Always Ready".
(21) Washington, D. C. TIMES-HERALD, dtd 16Feb43 (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--News Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC).
(22) Washington, D. C. STAR, dtd 15Feb43 (Subject File WOMEN MARINES--
Officer Training," HistBr, HQMC).
(23) San Diego Marine Corps Base CHEVRON, dtd 5Aug44 (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--News clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC).
(24) LI 281, dtd 11Dec42; "Brief History," p. 4.
(25) IBID.
(26) IBID.
(27) Streeter, "History," pp. 23-24.
67
(28) Officer-in-Charge (hereafter OIC), San Francisco, Calif. Procurement
Office ltr to BGen L. W. T. Waller, Jr., dtd 26Feb43, (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(29) Miss G. I. Filson ltr, n.d., to MajR.C. Streeter (Folder "1535-55-10
Female Enrollment MCR #4," CCF, HQMC) Avonmore, Pa. girl ltr, to Mrs.
F. D. Roosevelt, dtd 31Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR
#2," CCF, HQMC).
(30) Mr. J. Carter ltr to CMC, dtd 31Jan43, (Folder "1965-90-10-5 FEMALE
Appointment #1," CCF, HQMC).
(31) Col W. W. Rogers, M-3, memo to Director of Plans and Policies
(hereafter Dir, DivP&P), dtd 6Mar43; Greater New York Federation of
Churches to HQMC and other correspondence, dtd 15Feb43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(32) Col L. W. T. Waller, Jr., ltr to Hon. L. Ludlow, dtd 8Feb43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 FEMALE Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC).
(33) CMC ltr SecNav, dtd 18Dec42, (Folder "1535-55-10 FEMALE Enrollment MCR
#1," CCF, HQMC).
(34) Procurement Directive No. 17, dtd 10Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female
Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(35) Navy Dept Release, dtd 17Mar43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Enlistment," HistBr, HQMC).
(36) IBID.; "Itinerary Maj Streeter's trip of 17Feb-26Mar43," (Subject
File "Women's Reserve--USMCR," HistBr, HQMC).
(37) Maj C. B. Rhoads ltr to Mr. Thomas Streeter, dtd 8Mar43 (Folder
"1965-90-10-5 FEMALE Appointments #1," CCF, HQMC).
(38) Navy Dept release, dtd 9Apr43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Enlistment," HistBr, HQMC).
(39) IBID.; Release, dtd 15Apr43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--History,"
HistBr, HQMC).
(40) OIC Chicago, Ill. Procurement Office ltr. to LtCol John R. Moe, dtd
15Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(41) Streeter, "History," p. 24; Speed ltr signed Waller & Lawton to
Directors & OICs, dtd 18Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR
#2," CCF, HQMC); CMC ltr to SecNav, dtd 24Jul1943 (Folder 1535-55-10
Female Enrollment MCR #3," CCF, HQMC)
68
(42) Release, dtd 6Nov43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Enlistment," HistBr,
HQMC); Marine Corps release, "Anniversary Message to Marine Corps
Women's Reserve" from Col R. C. Streeter (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--Anniversaries," HistBr, HQMC).
(43) Director R. C. Streeter memo to Acting Director of Personnel, dtd
24May44 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol 1-P," CCF, HQMC)
(44) Streeter, "History," pp. 26, 280; Navy Dept release, dtd 12Mar43
(Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Officer Training," HistBr, HQMC).
(45) IBID.
(46) MajGen H. "Schmidt memo" to Chief of Naval Personnel (hereafter
"Schmidt memo"), dtd 23Feb43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR
#2," CCF, HQMC).
(47) CMC ltr to SecNav, dtd 6Ju143, refers to SecNav approval of "Cadet"
rank on 26Dec43; Release, dtd 15Apr43 (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--History," HistBr, HQMC); LI 382, dtd 27Mar43; One member of
the second class recalled that candidates wore arm bands rather than
OC pins throughout training. Information WM Director's Office, Feb64
(Monograph and Comment File, HistBr, HQMC)
(48) Streeter, "History," p. 280.
(49) "Schmidt memo".
(50) LI 382, dtd 27Mar43.
(51) "Schmidt memo"; Streeter, "History," p. 25; Navy Dept release, dtd
21Mar43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Recruit Training, "HistBr, HQMC);
Col K. A. Towle, "Women Marines: The Feminine Side," MARINE CORPS
GAZETTE, v. 34, no. 11 (Nov50), p. 111, hereafter Towle, "Women
Marines."
(52) "Schmidt memo"; Col L. W. T. Waller, Jr., memo to Col B. W. Gally, dtd
6Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(53) IBID.; "Brief History," p. 1; Navy Dept release, dtd 21Mar43 (Subject
File "WOMEN MARINES--Recruit Training," HistBr, HQMC); WM Director's
Office telephone conversation with HistBr, Aug63.
(54) Navy Dept release, dtd 21Mar43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Recruit
training," HistBr, HQMC).
(55) Streeter, "History," pp. 25, 117 (attrition figure computed from
figures on p. 117).
69
(56) HQMC memo, dtd 3Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #2,"
CCF, HQMC).
(57) CMC memo to Chief of Naval Personnel, dtd 10Apr43 (Folder 1965-90-10-5
FEMALE Appointments #1, CCF, HQMC), Towle,"Women Marines," p. 111;
Director R. C. Streeter memo to Director, Personnel Dept, dtd 5Jul43
(Folder "1965-90-10-5 Female Appointments'#2, CCF, HQMC).
(58) MajGen H. Schmidt ltr to Dr. R. G. Ham, dtd 23Jul43 (Folder "1535-55-10
Female Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(59) Maj C. B. Rhoads memo to Director, Personnel Dept, dtd 24Jun43 (Folder
"1965-9--10-5 Female Appointments #2," CCF, HQMC).
(60) CMC memo to Chief Naval Personnel, dtd 24May43 and HQMC correspondence,
dtd 15May43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #3," CCF, HQMC).
(61) "Waller Draft", p. 3.
(62) Streeter "History," p. 123.
(63) IBID.
(64) Extract from personal ltr received by BGen L. W. T. Waller, Jr., from
Maj E. H. Hurst, forwarded as part of an official memo from BGen Waller
to BGen K. E. Rockey, dtd 3Apr43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment
MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(65) Director R. C. Streeter memo to Director, Personnel Dept, dtd 12Jun43
(Folder "1965-90-10-5 Female Appointments #2," CCF, HQMC).
(66) Radio script, dtd 14Jan44, Ser #164024 (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--Enlistment," HistBr, HQMC, p. 3.
(67) Marine Corps release, "Training Women Reserve at Camp Lejeune, New
River, N. C.," n.d.; Release carbon draft pp. 8, 10 (Subject File
"WOMEN MARINES--Recruit Training," HistBr, HQMC).
(68) "Broadway Gazette" column of Leonard Lyons, guest-columnist Maj R. C.
Streeter, n.d., n.p., (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--History," HistBr,
HQMC), hereafter "Broadway column;" Robert H. Myers, "Boot Camp for
Women - Part I," LEATHERNECK, Vol. 26, no. 9 (Sep43), p. 44.
70
(69) Guy Richards, "The Ladies Arrive--The Story of the Women's Reserve, (a
monograph in possession of Col W. P. McCahill, USMCR, Washington, D. C.
(70) 1stLt J. A. Kelly, Atlanta, Ga. Procurement Office ltr to HQMC, dtd
27Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(71) HQMC memo, dtd 13Aug43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #4,"
CCF, HQMC); Director R. C. Streeter telegram to Philadelphia, Pa.
Platoon dtd 4Sep43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment CCF #3, HQMC)
(72) Lt Virginia L. McCance, Procurement Office, Pittsburgh, Pa. ltr to
HQMC, dtd 29Nov43 (Folder "2295-100 Women's Reserve," CCF, HQMC);
Luther H. Evans, Chief Assistant Librarian, Library of Congress ltr, to
Lt Frances M Seibert, Officer Procurement District, Washington, D. C.,
dtd 18Nov43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #4," CCF, HQMC).
(73) HQMC ltrs, dtd 9Oct43 and 18Oct43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment
MCR #4," CCF, HQMC); HQMC memo, dtd 13Aug43, op. cit.; Correspondence,
dtd 19Jan44 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol. 1-P," CCF, HQMC).
(74) "Brief History," p. 5; Streeter, "History," p. 118; "Waller Draft",
p. 3.
(75) Marine Corps release, "Training Women Reserves at Camp Lejeune, New
River, N. C.," op. cit.; HQMC memo, dtd 13Aug43, op.cit.; "Brief
History," p. 5.
(76) Streeter, "History," p. 126; "Brief History," p. 5.
(77) Dir, DivRes ltr to Dir, Training Division, Bureau of Naval, Personnel,
dtd 19Apr43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #3," CCF, HQMC).
(78) Marine Corps Women's Reserve (hereafter MCWR) release, n.d., (Subject
File "WOMEN MARINES--Section Reports," HistBr, HQMC); Streeter,
"History," pp. 129-130.
(79) Radio script, dtd 14Jan44, op. cit., p. 4
(80) MCWR release, n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Section Reports,"
HistBr, HQMC); LI 574, dtd 30Oct43.
(81) "Brief History," pp. 7-8.
(82) CMC ltr to OICs of four Procurement Districts, dtd 27Jul43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #3," CCF, HQMC); LI, dtd 6Jul43; LI,
dtd 3May44; Streeter, "History," p. 256.
71
HQMC correspondence, dtd 3Sep43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5 Female
Appointments #2," CCF, HQMC).
(83) Marine Corps release, dtd 22Jul43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Officer
Training," HistBr, HQMC); CMC ltr to CO, MCWR Schools, dtd 30Jul43
(Folder "1965-90-10-5 Female Appointments #2," CCF, HQMC); Draft Chap
14, "MCWR Officer Training," pt 3 (Folder "2185-65-10 History of MCWR
Supplementary, Vol. I," CCF, HQMC).
(84) LI 482, dtd 6Jul43; LI 573, dtd 30Oct43; LI 739, dtd 3May44; CMC
correspondence to SecNav, dtd 6Jul43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5 FEMALE
Appointments #2," CCF HQMC).
(85) Capt F. L. Churchville memo to Dir, DivRes, dtd 7May43 (Folder
"1965-90-10-5 FEMALE Appointments #1," CCF, HQMC); HQMC correspondence,
dtd 24Jun43 and 3Sep43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5 Female Appointments #2,"
CCF, HQMC); Dir, P&P memo to CMC dtd 17Mar45 (Folder "1965-90-10-5
Appointments Female-1," CCF, HQMC).
(86) Director R. C. Streeter memo to Dir, Personnel Dept, dtd 18Dec44
(Folder "1965-90-10-5 Appointments Female-1-," CCF, HQMC); Streeter,
"History," pp. 284-287.
(87) Streeter, "History," p. 64; CMC memo to AsstSecNav, dtd 17Dec42 (Folder
"1535-55-10 FEMALE Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC).
(88) Navy Dept release, dtd 20Mar43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Uniforms,"
HistBr, HQMC); Col L. W. T. Waller, Jr., memo to Mrs. A. A. Lentz, dtd
31Dec42 (Folder "1535-55-10 FEMALE Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC).
(89) NavyDept release, dtd 20Mar43, op. cit.
(90) "Waller Draft," p. 3.
(91) IBID., p. 2; Correspondence, dtd Feb43 with Harper's Bazaar clipping
(Folder "1535-55-10-5 Female Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(92) Mr. E. A. Greene ltr to Director R. C. Streeter, dtd 6Feb43 (Folder
"1965-90-10-5 FEMALE Appointments #1," CCF, HQMC).
(93) The Institute for Research, "A Career in the U. S. Marine Corps Women's
Reserve," Chicago, 1943, hereafter "Career booklet" (Subject File
"WOMEN MARINES--Enlistment," HistBr, HQMC).
72
(94) Adjutant & Inspector ltr to Dir, DivRes, dtd 21Nov42; Col L. W. T.
Waller, Jr., memo to CMC, dtd 12Jan43 (Folder "1535-55-10 FEMALE
Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC); HQMC advance information bulletin, dtd
6Feb43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--History," HistBr, HQMC); LI 424
dtd 15May43; Dir, DivRes ltr to Research Section, dtd 5Dec42 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #1," CCF, HQMC); Myers, "Boot Camp
for Women," op. cit., p. 44.
(95) "Career booklet", p.7; Col R.H. Rankin, USMC, UNIFORMS OF THE SEA
SERVICES--A PICTORIAL HISTORY (Annapolis: U. S. Naval Institute,
1962), pp. 252-253; USMC release, n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--History," HistBr, HQMC).
(96) "Waller Draft", p. 3; Navy Dept release, dtd 20Mar43 (Subject File
"WOMEN MARINES--Uniforms," HistBr, HQMC); LtCol Ruth H. Broe ltr to
Head, HistBr G-3 Div, HQMC, dtd 15Nov63 (Monograph and Comment File,
HistBr, HQMC).
(97) Rankin, UNIFORMS, op. cit., pp. 252-253; Col Margaret M. Henderson
ltr to Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, dtd 14Nov63 (Monograph and
Comment File, HistBr, HQMC).
(98) Rankin, UNIFORMS, op. cit., p. 253
(99) Uniform Regulations, 1943, USMCR, revised 27Jul43 and issued as LI 523,
dtd 27Aug43; LI 737, dtd 1May44
(100) LI 523, op. cit.
(101) IBID.
(102) "Waller Draft," p. 3; LI 602, dtd 27Nov42.
(103) Typed draft of release, dtd 9Sep43, and Bob Jackson, Philadelphia,
Pa. Procurement Office memo to S/Sgt MacQueen, of RECRUITER (Subject
File "Women's Reserve - USMCR," HistBr, HQMC).
(104) "Brief History," p. 3; Streeter, "History," pp. 64-65; Typed carbon of
release, "First Class of Uniform Officers," dtd 15Nov43 (Subject File
"WOMEN MARINES--Officer Training," HistBr, HQMC); Release #40, "Women's
Post Exchange at Camp Lejeune," n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Recruit Training," HistBr, HQMC).
(105) "Brief History," p. 3; Streeter, "History," pp. 64, 66, 70.
(106) Streeter, "History," p. 69.
(107) IBID., pp. 73-74.
73
(108) Capt F. R. Washington, Asst to Dir, DivRes ltr to Mr. F.M. Schlegel,
dtd 2Mar43, (Folder "1965-90-10-5 FEMALE Appointments #1," CCF, HQMC);
"Broadway column".
(109) Typed excerpt Chap XXXI, "Women in the Navy," from Josephus Daniels,
OUR NAVY AT WAR, op. cit.
(110) Towle, "Women Marines," p. 111; Lt. E. Louise Stewart, "What Are the
Women Marines Doing?" MARINE CORPS GAZETTE, v. 27, no. 6 (Oct43)
"passim."
(111) HEADQUARTERS BULLETIN, dtd Oct43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News
Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC); "Brief History," addendum pp. 1-5.
(112) Navy Dept release, dtd 23Mar43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Section
Reports," HistBr, HQMC).
(113) IBID.
(114) "Brief History," p. 5.
(115) IBID., MCWR release, n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Section
Reports, HistBr, HQMC).
(116) Streeter, "History," pp. 159, 162-164.
(117) IBID., p. 161.
(118) IBID., p. 204; "Brief History," p. 6; LI 574, dtd 30Oct43.
(119) "Brief History," p. 9; LI 622, dtd 29Dec43; Director R. C. Streeter
memo to CMC, dtd 22Dec43 (Folder: "1965-90-10-5 Female Appointments
#2," CCF, HQMC).
(120) Waller ltr to Mr. Fields, dtd 11May43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5 FEMALE
Appointments #1," CCF, HQMC); "Women Reserves Celebrate their Second
Anniversary," CHEVRON, 10Feb45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Anniversaries," HistBr, HQMC), hereafter CHEVRON article.
(121) IBID., Stewart, "What Are Women Marines Doing?" op. cit., p. 30.
(122) CHEVRON article.
(123) QUANTICO SENTRY, dtd Nov43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News
Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC).
(124) CHEVRON article.
(125) IBID.
(126) IBID.
74
(127) IBID.
(128) IBID.
(129) IBID.
(130) Robert Sherrod, HISTORY OF MARINE CORPS AVIATION IN WORLD WAR II
(Washington: Combat Forces Press, 1952), p. 128; Streeter, "History,"
pp. 127-128.
(131) IBID.; Division Aviation memo to Division Reserve, dtd 25Feb43
(Folder "1965-90-10-10-5 FEMALE Appointments #1," CCF, HQMC).
(132) HQMC memo, dtd Sep43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5 Female Appointments #1,"
CCF, HQMC).
(133) Carbon draft of release, dtd 2Aug44 (Subject File, "WOMEN MARINES--
Specialist Training," HistBr, HQMC).
(134) Draft of LI 1093, dtd 4Aug45 (Folder "2295-100 Report on Women's
Reserve," CCF, HQMC); Muster Rolls, Diary Unit, Files Section,
Personnel Department, HQMC; AWRS - 12 and - 13 at Edenton were
disbanded early in 1945.
(135) Streeter, "History," pp. 165-168.
(136) Director R. C. Streeter memo to All Officers, dtd 17Jul43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #3," CCF, HQMC).
(137) John A. De Chant, DEVILBIRDS (New York: Harper & Bros., 1947), pp.
58-59.
(138) Streeter, "History," pp. 375-376.
(139) Washington STAR, 13Sep45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News Clippings
#1," HistBr, HQMC).
(140) "Brief History," p. 2; Streeter, "History," pp. 21-22, 45.
(141) Streeter, "History," p. 31.
(142) LI 382, dtd 27Mar43.
(143) LI 571 dtd 29Oct43; Streeter, "History," p. 32.
(144) "Waller Draft", p. 4; Release, dtd 25Nov43, CMC to All Officers, MCWR
(Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Regulations, HistBr, HQMC); Streeter,
"History," p. 9; LtCol John B. Hill report to Dir, DivRes, dtd 4Feb43
(Folder "2295-100 Women's Reserve," CCF, HQMC).
75
(145) Correspondence, dtd 18Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR
#2," CCF, HQMC); Correspondence, dtd 21May43 and 31May43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #3,: CCF, HQMC); Correspondence, dtd
22Nov43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #4," CCF, HQMC);
Mattie E. Treadwell, U.S. ARMY IN WORLD WAR II--SPECIAL STUDIES--THE
WOMEN'S ARMY CORPS (Washington: Office of the Chief of Military
History, Dept of the Army, 1954), pp. 483-484, 759.
(146) Correspondence, dtd 31May43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR
#3," CCF. HQMC).
(147) Carbon of release, n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Officer
Training," HistBr, HQMC).
(148) CMC ltr, dtd 20Jul43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment CR #3," CCF,
HQMC).
(149) IBID.
(150) Director R. C. Streeter memo to All Officers, dtd 17Jul43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment, MCR #3," CCF, HQMC).
(151) CMC ltr, dtd 25Nov43, op. cit.; CMC ltr, dtd 20Jul43, op. cit.;
BGen K. E. Rockey memo to DivRes, dtd 8Mar43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female
Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(152) Streeter, "History," pp. 384-385; Commanding Officer, 2d Headquarters
Battalion memo, dtd 26Jul43, Subj: Gripe Sheet (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--Section Reports," HistBr,HQMC), p. 10.
(153) LI 725, dtd 25Apr44; Streeter, "History," pp. 363-364.
(154) LI 571, dtd 29Oct43.
(155) IBID.; LI 726, dtd 26Apr44.
(156) Director R. C. Streeter ltr to James M. Nelson, Assoc Ed., THE
AMERICAN MAGAZINE, dtd 28Sep43 (Folder 1535-55-10 Female Enrollment
MCR #4," CCF, HQMC).
(157) LI 382, dtd 27Mar43.
(158) CMC ltr, dtd 25Nov43, op. cit.
(159) LI 692, dtd 27Mar44 which refers to LI 382, dtd 27Mar43.
(160) IBID.
(161) LI 291, dtd 11Dec42.
76
(162) SecNav approval of modification of marriage regulations, dtd 9Mar43
(Folder "1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #2," CCF, HQMC).
(163) Director R. C. Streeter memo to Procurement Branch, dtd 10Aug43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #4," CCF, HQMC).
(164) IBID.
(165) Policy change statements, dtd 17Nov43 and 26Nov43 (Folder "1535-55-10
Female Enrollment MCR #4," CCF, HQMC).
(166) LI 382, dtd 27Mar43; LI 510, dtd 6Aug43; LI 499, dtd 29Jul43; LI 858,
dtd 5Oct44; Streeter, "History," p. 14; "Brief History," pp. 6-7.
(167) IBID.; Streeter, "History," pp. 43-44.
(168) Director R. C. Streeter memo, dtd 17Jul43, op. cit.
(169) IBID.
(170) "Broadway column;" Navy Dept release, dtd 10Feb44 (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--Officer Training," HistBr, HQMC); Capt F. L. Churchville memo
to Dir, DivRes, dtd 7Apr43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5 FEMALE Appointments
#1," CCF, HQMC); muster rolls, Diary Unit, Files Section, Personnel
Department, HQMC.
(171) 1stLt E. Louise Stewart, "Shakedown Cruise," MARINE CORPS GAZETTE,
vol. 27, no. 2 (May-June43), p. 37.
(172) USMC release, dtd 15Apr43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--History,"
HistBr, HQMC); Navy Department release, dtd 4Feb44 (Subject File
"WOMEN MARINES--Officer Training," HistBr, HQMC).
(173) Correspondence, dtd 24Jun43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5 Female Appointments
#2," CCF, HQMC); #34, n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Press
Releases," HistBr, HQMC).
(174) USMC release, dtd 1Feb45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES-Anniversaries,"
HistBr, HQMC), pp. 2-3; Disabled American Veterans Semi-Monthly, dtd
Jan44 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC).
(175) "IBID.,pp. 1-2; Carbon of Navy Dept release, dtd Mar43 (Subject File
"WOMEN MARINES--Press Releases, HistBr HQMC); Navy Dept release, dtd
10Feb44 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Officer Training," HistBr, HQMC)
(176) BGen L. W. T. Waller, Jr., memo, dtd 13Jul43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female
Vol. 1-P," CCF, HQMC).
77
(177) BGen L. W. T. Waller, Jr., ltrs to various Directors, Musical Schools,
dtd 31Jul43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol. 1-P," CCF, HQMC);
Streeter, "History," pp. 376-377; Carbon of USMC release, New River, N.
C., dtd 11Nov45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Specialist Training,"
HistBr, HQMC).
(178) Streeter, "History," p. 377; Towle, "Women Marines," p. 112.
(179) San Diego CHEVRON, dtd 10Feb45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Anniversaries," HistBr, HQMC).
(180) Sgt Chas B. Kopp, USMC typed release, nd (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Press Releases," HistBr, HQMC).
(181) Navy Dept release, dtd 2Aug43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Press
Releases," HistBr, HQMC); Carbon of Camp Lejeune, N. C. release, dtd
Sep43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Recruit Training," HistBr, HQMC).
(182) IBID.
(183) Carbon of release, Camp Lejeune, N. C., dtd 6Dec43 (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--Press Releases," HistBr HQMC); Washington TIMES-HERALD, dtd
23Nov44 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News Clippings #1," HistBr,
HQMC).
(184) USMC release, dtd 24May44 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Press
Releases," HistBr, HQMC); Henderson ltr, op. cit.
(185) Navy Dept release, dtd 6Aug43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Press
Releases," HistBr, HQMC); "Headquarters Bulletin, dtd Oct43 (Subject
File "WOMEN MARINES--News Clippings #1," Histbr, HQMC); HQMC
correspondence, dtd 3Jun43 (Folder 1535-55-10 Female Vol. 1-P," CCF,
HQMC); Carbon release, dtd 12 Apr 44 (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--Press Releases," HistBr, HQMC).
(186) Washington STAR picture, dtd 6Feb44 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News
Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC).
(187) Carbon of USMC release, dtd 17Nov43 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Officer Training," HistBr, HQMC); Mrs. F. A. Bunte ltr to Director R.
C. Streeter, dtd 24Jul43 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol. 1-P," CCF,
HQMC).
(188) USMC release, dtd 13Feb45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Anniversaries,"
HistBr, HQMC); Washington TIMES-HERALD articles, dtd 13Apr45 and
28Aug45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News clippings #1," HistBr,
HQMC).
(189) San Diego CHEVRON, dtd 10Feb45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Anniversaries," HistBr, HQMC).
78
(190) Typed draft, dtd 7Oct43(Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Press Releases,"
HistBr, HQMC); USMC release, dtd 1Feb45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Anniversaries," HistBr, HQMC).
(191) HQMC release, dtd 1Feb45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Anniversaries,"
HistBr, HQMC). "passim."
(192) Head, Decorations and Medals Branch memo to HistBr, HQMC, dtd 5Sep63.
(193) Director R. C. Streeter memo to Acting Director of Personnel, dtd
13Sep44 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol. 1-P," CCF, HQMC); HQMC Legal
division telephone conversation with HistBr, Jul63; 11th Naval District
Bulletin, Serial No. LA(a) 188(43) (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--
Overseas Duty," HistBr, HQMC)
(194) Telephone conversation, Jul63, op. cit.; Streeter memo, dtd 13Sep44,
op. cit.
(195) Washington TIMES-HERALD, 20Sep44 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News
Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC).
(196) Telephone conversation, Jul63, op. cit.
(197) Streeter memo, dtd 13Sep44, op. cit., refers to July Hawaii
memorandum.
(198) Director R. C. Streeter memo, dtd 3Nov44, Subj: Report of Visit to
Hawaii 13Oct-2Nov (Folder "2295-100 Report on Women's Reserve,
1Jan44-31Dec47," CCF, HQMC); Streeter, "History," pp. 387-388.
(199) CMC memo to WR Assistants, dtd 30Jan45 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol.
1-P," CCF, HQMC); Release draft "Wahine Marine," A03E-1265-HPH, dtd
22Jan53 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--History,: HistBr, HQMC).
(200) LI 884, dtd 13Nov44.
(201) IBID.; BGen Waller memo to Director R. C. Streeter, dtd 30Oct43
(Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol. 1-P" CCF, HQMC).
(202) HQMC correspondence (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol. 1-P" CCF, HQMC).
(203) Streeter memo, dtd 3Nov44, op. cit.; USMC release "WM Officers on Duty
in Hawaii,:n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Press Releases," HistBr,
HQMC); Information WM Director's Office to HistBr, Jun63; LtCol D. A.
Stafford memo to CMC re rank of officers, dtd 15Feb43 (Folder
"1965-90-10-5 FEMALE Appointments #1," CCF, HQMC).
79
(204) Information WM Director's Office, Jun63; Release "Headquarters
Announces Qualifications for Women Marines Going Overseas," dtd Nov44
(Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Overseas, HistBr, HQMC)
(205) Information WM Director's Office, Jun63; LtCol Mary Hale conversation
with HistBr, Aug63.
(206) HQMC correspondence, dtd 2Jan45 (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol. 1-P,"
CCF, HQMC).
(207) Marine Corps Women's Reserve Battalion paper, v.1, no. 1 (May45)
(Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Overseas," HistBr, HQMC); Wahine Marine"
release, op. cit.
(208) IBID.; Director R. C. Streeter memo (Folder "1535-55-10 Female Vol.
1-P" CCF, HQMC); Information WM Director's Office, Jun63.
(209) "Wahine Marines" release, op. cit.
(210) Washington TIMES-HERALD, 18Dec44 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News
Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC). (211) Reserve battalion paper, op. cit.
(212) IBID.
(213) Typed draft "Women Marines" #145-WR Motor Transport, dtd May45 (Subject
File "WOMEN MARINES--Press Release," HistBr, HQMC).
(214) Sgt Jean Kautenberg, draft of release #148-WR, dtd 30May45 (subject
File "WOMEN MARINES--Press Releases," HistBr, HQMC).
(215) Information WM Director's Office, Jun63; Reserve battalion paper, op.
cit.
(216) "The Ladies Arrive," op. cit.
(217) USMC release, n. d., with dateline "Oahu, T.H. (Delayed)" (Subject
File "WOMEN MARINES--Press Releases," HistBr, HQMC); Streeter,
"History," p. 9.
(218) IBID., p. 390; Towle, "Women Marines," p. 112.
(219) Release "The Marine Corps Women's Reserve," n. d. (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--Reserve Section Reports" HistBr, HQMC).
(220) Streeter, "History," p. 419; Draft "Marine Corps Women's Reserve," op.
cit.
80
(221) HQMC Bulletin 1355-40 DDA-483 hdk, dtd 16Oct45 (Subject File: "WOMEN
MARINES--History," HistBr, HQMC).
(222) IBID.
(223) Streeter, "History," pp. 378-379; Aviation Women's Reserve Squadron
(AWRS) 12 War Diary and History, Apr44-Dec44 (HistBr, HQMC), p. 27;
Correspondence dtd 9Jan46 (Folder "2295-100 Report of Women Reserve
(T)," CCF, HQMC).
(224) Streeter, "History," pp. 420-421; LI 1110, dtd 1Aug45.
(225) Streeter, "History," p. 424.
(226) Washington POST, 2Nov45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News Clippings
#1," HistBr, HQMC).
(227) Biographies of the directors (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES," HistBr,
HQMC).
(228) Lt Mary L. Parks monthly report to HQMC, dtd 4Jan45 (Folder "2295-100
Report of Women Reserve (T)," CCF, HQMC).
(229) Streeter, "History," p. 100.
(230) Draft of LI, dtd 4Aug45 (Folder "2295-100 Report of Women's Reserve
1Jan44-31Dec47," CCF, HQMC).
(231) IBID.
(232) IBID.
(233) IBID.
(234) Streeter, "History," pp. 420-421.
(235) IBID.
(236) AWRS 3 monthly report, dtd 6Dec45 (Folder "2295-100 Report of Women
Reserve (T)," CCF, HQMC); Henderson Hall, Arlington, Va. monthly
report, dtd 9Jan46 (Folder as above).
(237) AWRS 4 monthly report, dtd 19Dec45 (Folder "2295-100 Report of Women
Reserve (T)," CCF, HQMC).
(238) Henderson Hall, Arlington, Virginia monthly report, op. cit.
(239) Rehabilitation Section, Women's Reserve Separation Company, Camp
Lejeune, N. C. monthly report, dtd 31Dec45 (Folder "2295-100 Report of
Women Reserve (T)," CCF, HQMC)
81
(240) Southeastern Recruiting Division, Atlanta, Ga. monthly report, dtd
4Jan46 (Folder "2295-100 Report of Women Reserve (T)," CCF, HQMC).
(241) LI 1110, dtd 21Aug45; Streeter, "History," p. 426.
(242) IBID.
(243) USMC release, dtd 30Jun45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Separation from
Service," HistBr, HQMC); Director K. A. Towle report to Director,
Personnel, dtd 14Jun46, Subj: date of termination of office of Director
of Wartime Women's Reserve and her release from duty (Folder "2295-100
Report on Women's Reserve 1Jan44-31Dec47," CCF, HQMC).
(244) IBID.
(245) IBID.
(246) Streeter, "History," pp. 16, 270.
(247) IBID.
(248) Commanding Officer, 2d Headquarters Battalion memo, op. cit. p. 10.
(249) CAREER BOOKLET p. 21; Picture Washington TIMES-HERALD, 14Jun43
(Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC).
(250) AWRS-12 WD & History, op. cit., pp. 10, 24.
(251) Director R. C. Streeter ltr to Capt Bart Dutto, dtd 29Jul43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #3," CCF, HQMC).
(252) Release "The Marine Corps Women's Reserve," n. d. (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--Section Reports," HistBr, HQMC), pp. 4-5.
(253) IBID.
(254) IBID.; regional totals projected from Appendix III.
(255) Director R. C. Streeter ltr to Capt Linus N. Hardy, dtd 5Aug43 (Folder
"1535-55-10 Female Enrollment MCR #4," CCF, HQMC); OIC Procurement ltr
to CMC, dtd 17Dec43. (Folder as above).
(256) CMC ltr to Dean Gildersleeve, dtd 12Jan43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5 Female
Appointments #1," CCF, HQMC); ltr to AssistDir, MarCorps Officer
Procurement Office, San Francisco, Calif., dtd 18Mar43 (Folder as
above).
82
(257) Director R. C. Streeter memo to CMC, dtd 22Dec43 (Folder "1965-90-10-5
Female Appointments #2," CCF, HQMC); Streeter ltr to Dean Gildersleeve,
dtd 31Dec43 (Folder as above).
(258) Release, "The Marine Corps Women's Reserve," op. cit.
(259) Streeter, "History," pp. 252, 97-98.
(260) IBID.
(261) IBID.
(262) "Brief History," p. 3; Streeter, "History," p. 80.
(263) IBID.; Commanding Officer, 2d Headquarters Battalion memo, op.
cit., p. 17.
(264) Streeter, "History," pp. 94-95.
(265) "Women's Reserve Survey," dtd 21Sep44 (Subject File "Women's
Reserve--USMCR," HistBr, HQMC), p. 7.
(266) Streeter, "History," pp. 57-58.
(267) Towle, "Women Marines," p. 112.
(268) "Women in the War," op. cit. p. 9.
(269) IBID.; Carbon draft "Brief History of Marine Corps Women's Reserve in
World War II," n.d. (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--History," HistBr,
HQMC), p. 3.
(270) USMC news clipping, "Women Marines Observe Second Anniversary,"
dtd 13Feb45, n.p (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--Anniversaries," HistBr,
HQMC).
(271) Stewart, "Shakedown Cruise," op. cit. p. 37.
83
Sources for the Introduction
(a) Washington TIMES-HERALD, dtd 10Feb45 (Subject File "WOMEN MARINES--News
Clippings #1," HistBr, HQMC
(b) Janet Wolff, "Influences on Today's Women," WHAT WOMEN BUY (New York:
McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 1958), p.8.
(c) Typewritten carbon draft "Service Completed" (Subject File "WOMEN
MARINES--History," HistBr, HQMC), p.1.
(d) F. T. Stolley, "Humor in Uniform" Reader's Digest, Mar55, v. 66: 26.
84
Appendix A: Jobs in which Women Marines Were Assigned During World War II
Accountant Combat Correspondent
Addressing or Embossing Commissary Man
Machine Operator Communication Chief
Administrative NCO Control Tower Operator
Armorer, Aircraft Cook
Artist Court Reporter
Auditor Crane Operator
Automobile Serviceman Dispatcher, Motor Vehicle
Automotive Carburetor & Draftsman, Electrical
Ignition Mechanic Draftsman, General
Automotive Equipment Operator Draftsman, Mechanical
Automotive Mechanic Draftsman, Topographic
Aviation Salvage Crew Mechanic Drill Instructor
Aviation Supply Man Drum Major
Baker Education Specialist
Band Leader Electrician, Aircraft
Bandsman, Bass Drum Electrician, General
Bandsman, Clarinet Electric Motor Repairman
Bandsman, Cornet or Trumpet Electroplater
Bandsman, Euphonium or Baritone Engine Overhaul Mechanic,
Bandsman, Flute or Piccolo Aircraft (Designated
Bandsman, French Horn Engine)
Bandsman, Saxophone Engineer Stock Man
Bandsman, Oboe Fabric Worker, Aircraft
Bandsman, Snare Drum Field Artillery Fire Control
Bandsman, Trombone Man
Bandsman, Tuba Field Lighting Truck Operator
Barracks NCO Field Musician
Beauty Operator File Clerk
Boiler Firemen Filter Operator, Water Supply
Bookkeeper Financial Typist, Clerk
Bookkeeping Machine Operator Finger Printer
Carburetor Mechanic, Aircraft Fire Control Instrument
(Designated Type) Technician
Carpenter, Aircraft Fire Fighter
Carpenter, General First Sergeant
Cashier Freight Transportation Clerk
Chaplain's Assistant Gas & Oil Man
Chauffeur Guard
Chemical Laboratory Technician Gyro Mechanic, Aircraft
Chemical Warfare Specialist Heavy Artillery Fire Control
Chief Clerk NCO
Chief Ordnance Man, Light Air Heavy Machine Gunner
Fire Control Heat-Treater
Classification Specialist Hydraulic Mechanic, Aircraft
Clearance Desk Clerk (Designated Type)
Clerk, Administrative Inspector, Aircraft Parts &
Clerk, General Accessories
Clerk Typist Instructor (Designated
Code Clerk Specialty)
85
Instrument Mechanic, Aircraft Photographic Laboratory
Investigator Technician
Inventory Clerk Photographic Service
Key Punch Operator Technician
Laundry Machine Operator Photographic Stock Man
Legal Clerk Photolithographer
Library Clerk Photostat Operator or Blue
Link Celestial Navigation Printer
Training Operator Plastic Glass Worker
Link Trainer Instructor Platoon Sergeant
Link Trainer Mechanic Plotter, Air Warning
Machine Operator Plumber
Machinist Police NCO
Maintenance Man, General Postal Clerk
Materiel Clerk, Aviation Post Exchange Man
Meat Cutter Process Cameraman
Mechanic, Aircraft (Designated Procurement Clerk
Type) Projectionist, 16mm
Mechanic, Gunner, Aviation Projectionist, 35mm
Message Center Chief Projector Operator-repairman
Message Center Man Proofreader
Messenger Propeller Mechanic (Designated
Mess Sergeant Type
Metal smith, Aviation Property NCO
Microfilm Technician Printer
Military Policemen Publication Man
Military Specialty Undetermined Quartermaster Supply Basic
Motor Transport Quartermaster Supply Man
Multilith or Multigraph Radar Operator (Designated
Operator Equipment)
Navy Supply Man Radar Repairman, Airborne
Occupational Technician Search Equipment
Office Machine Repairman Radar Technician (Designated
(Designated Machine) Equipment)
Officer Candidate Radio Operator, Aerial
Operations Clerk, Aviation Radio Operator, High Speed
Orderly Radio Operator, Low Speed
Ordnance Stockman Radio Repairman
Oxygen & Carbon Dioxide Man Radio Technician, VHF
Packer Radio Telephone Operator
Painter, Aircraft Railway Clerk
Painter, General Recognition Instructor
Painter, Sign Recruiter
Painter, Vehicle Recreation Assistant
Parachute Rigger Rigger, Aircraft
Parachute Shop Chief Sales Clerk
Parts Clerk, Automotive Sewing Machine Operator
Parts Clerk, Ordnance Sergeant Major
Passenger Transportation Clerk Sheet Metal Worker
Paymaster Clerk Ship Loading Man
Personnel Clerk Ship Clerk or Engineer Clerk,
Photographer, Aerial Aviation
Photographer, Still Signal Stock Man
Photographic Darkroom Man Small Arms Mechanic
86
Special Assignment Toolroom Keeper
Special Services Assistant Toxic Gas Handler
Statistical Clerk Tractor Driver
Stenographer Traffic Rate Clerk
Steward Training Aids Specialist
Stock Clerk Translator (Designated
Stock Man, General Language)
Stock Record Clerk Truck Driver, Heavy
Storage Battery Electrician Truckmaster
Student Turret Mechanic Aircraft
Supply Records Clerk (Designated Type)
Switchboard Installer, Telephone Upholsterer
& Telegraph Dial Veterinary Technician
Switchboard Operator, Common Warehouseman
Battery Watch Repairman
Synthetic Devices Mechanic Water Supply Man
Synthetic Gunnery Instructor Weather Forecaster
(Designated Type) Weather Observer
Tabulation Machine Operator Welder, Acetylene
Tailor Welder, Electric Arc
Telephone Switchboard Operator Woodworking Machine Operator
Teletype Mechanic Truck Driver, Light or
Teletype Operator Chauffeur
TOTAL: 225
Source:
"Brief History," pp. 1-5 (Subject File "Women Marines--History,"
HistBr, HQMC)
87
Appendix B: Composition of Women's Reserve: By Education
Did not complete high school 2,608
High school graduate 13,824
1-4 years' college 4,478
Post-graduate work 141
----------
21,051
Not coded 2,094
TOTAL 23,145 *
* This figure refers to the number of Women Marines who were
enlisted during World War II through July 1945.
Source:
Streeter, "History," p. 103.
88
Appendix C: Composition of Women's Reserve: By State of Residence
California 2,696
New York 2,325
Pennsylvania 1,972
Massachusetts 1,675
Illinois 1,519
Michigan 1,312
Ohio 1,270
Missouri 929
New Jersey 795
Minnesota 745
Wisconsin 716
Washington 599
Iowa 534
Texas 521
Indiana 419
Connecticut 387
Oregon 353
District of Columbia 339
-------
19,104
Other 4,041
-------
TOTAL 23,145
About 80 percent of the total enrollment of the Marine Corps Women's
Reserve during the war came from 17 states and the District of
Columbia. Only 20 percent came from the remaining 31 states.
Source:
Streeter, "History," p. 101.
89
Appendix D: Composition of Women's Reserve: By Age *
From 20 to 24 years 14,300 61.8%
From 25 to 20 years 5,848 25.2%
From 30 to 37 years 2,610 11.3%
Over 38 387 1.7%
------ -----
23,145 100.0%
* Records as of 31 July 1945
The majority of Women Reservists enlisted before they were 25 years
old, since a considerable number of those in the 25-27 year age
group in July 1945 must have been under 25 years when they
enlisted. Because the maximum age for enlisted women was 36 years,
practically all those over 38 at this date were officers.
Source:
Streeter, "History," p. 102.
90
Appendix E: Composition of Women's Reserve: By General Classification
Test Scores
Range of Test Scores Total
Under 075 181
075-088 1,045
089-109 8,883
110-129 9,657
130-151 1,220
---------
Classified 20,986
Not tested 65
Not coded 2,094
---------
TOTAL 23,145
All but 1,226 of 20,986 women were rated 089 or higher.
Source:
Streeter, "History," p. 104.
91
Appendix F: Key Dates in the History of Women Marines
31 October 1942 -- Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox authorized Marine
Corps to create a Women's Reserve and to accept women
applicants for commissions and enlistments.
7 November 1942 -- Approval by Commandant, Lieutenant General Thomas
Holcomb, of formation of Marine Corps Women's Reserve.
29 January 1943 -- Commissioning of Major Ruth Cheney Streeter as
Director, Marine Corps Women's Reserve.
13 February 1943 -- First day that enlistments officially open.
13 March 1943 -- First class of 71 officer candidates enters U. S. Naval
Midshipmen's School (WR) at Mount Holyoke,
Massachusetts to begin training with the WAVES.
26 March 1943 -- First class of enlisted Women Reserves, numbering 722,
begins training at the J. S. Naval Training School (WR)
at Hunter College, the Bronx, New York, likewise
training with the WAVES.
25 April 1943 -- First class of enlisted women graduated and assigned to
active duty. Subsequent classes of approximately 525
women entered every two weeks for courses that averaged
about four weeks in length.
4 May 1943 -- First class of officer candidates graduated and report
to duty stations. Classes averaged about 70
candidates, began every month, and lasted about eight
weeks.
15 July 1943 -- Training for enlisted and candidates having been
transferred to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina during past
week, instruction for both groups commences here this
date. All basic training for Women Reserves, as well
as much of the specialty training, is held here
throughout the rest of the war.
92
20 October 1943 -- First candidates class (i.e., the eighth) composed of
meritorious enlisted women begins its training; OCC
thereafter comprised largely of former enlisted women.
13 February 1944 -- First Anniversary of Women's Reserve finds organization
having grown from four women to nearly 15,000 and well
within sight of its recruiting goal: a strength of
18,000 enlisted and 1,000 officers. Original
prediction of "more than 30 kinds of jobs" grown to
more than 200 different assignments.
27 September 1944 -- Overseas Bill for women in the naval services signed by
the President; this allows women naval reservists to
serve as volunteers anywhere with Western Hemisphere,
including Hawaii and Alaska.
29 January 1945 -- First detachment of five MCWR officers and 160 enlisted
women arrives Hawaii or overseas assignment. Later
groups of approximately 200 arrive every other week;
Hawaii complement eventually totaled approximately
1,000 women.
13 February 1945 -- Second Anniversary of Women Reserves celebrated with
dances, birthday cakes, special religious services, and
battalion reviews. The women numbered from one-third
to one-half of the post troops at many Marine duty
stations.
7 May 1945 -- V-E Day. All recruiting for Women's Reserve limited to
replacements for normal attrition.
2 September 1945 -- V-J Day. All recruiting stopped, and plans made for
gradual demobilization of Women's Reserve.
13 February 1946 -- Some 1,700 Women Reserves marched smartly in review
before Commandant, General Alexander A. Vandegrift, in
ceremonies at Washington, D. C. marking the Third
Anniversary of the Women's Reserve.
7 June 1946 -- Approval by the Commandant or Marine Corps Women's
Reserve Policy Board recommendation for retention of
small number of women on duty to serve as trained
nucleus for possible mobilization emergencies.
93
1 September 1946 -- Original terminal date set for Women's Reserve. All WR
units disbanded and most of women returned to civilian
life.
12 June 1948 -- Passage of Women's Armed Services Integration Act
established Women Marines as a permanent part of
regular component of Marine Corps, as well as permanent
reserve status.
4 November 1948 -- First group of three wartime WR officers sworn into the
regular Marine Corps.
10 November 1948 -- First group of eight World War II enlisted women
similarly worn into the regular Marine Corps by the
Commandant.
Source:
Recapitulation of facts in this monograph.
94
Appendix G: Biographies of Wartime Directors, Marine Corps Women's Reserve
MRS. RUTH CHENEY STREETER
FORMER DIRECTOR OF MARINE CORPS WOMEN'S RESERVE
Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter was the first Director of the United States
Marine Corps Women's Reserve. She earned the Legion of Merit for "outstanding
services" during World War II and served from the time the Women's Reserve was
activated on February 13, 1943, until December 7, 1945, when she resigned her
commission.
The colonel was awarded the Legion of Merit on February 4, 1946. The
accompanying citation states in part: "Exercising judgment, initiative and
ability, Colonel Streeter rendered distinctive service in directing the
planning and organization of the Women's Reserve of the Marine Corps and
skillfully integrating women into the basic structure of the Corps, carefully
selected, trained and properly assigned them as replacements for men in shore
establishments."
Born October 2, 1895 at Brookline, Mass., Colonel Streeter attended
schools abroad and graduated from Bryn Mawr College at Bryn Mawr, Pa., in
1918. During the depression years following 1930 she worked in public health
and welfare, unemployment relief and old-age assistance in her home state of
New Jersey. She was one-time President of the Welfare Board in Morris County,
N. J. She also served as a member of the New Jersey State Relief Council, New
Jersey Commission of InterState Cooperation, and New Jersey Board of
Children's Guardians.
Long interested in aviation, the colonel completed a course in
aeronautics at New York University and served as adjutant of Group 221, Civil
Air Patrol. She learned to fly in 1940 and in 1941 became the only woman
member of the Committee on Aviation of the New Jersey Defense Council. The
same year she also acted as chairman of the Citizens' Committee for Army and
Navy, Inc., for Fort Dix, N. J. She received her commercial pilot's license
in April 1942.
Colonel Streeter was the first woman to hold the rank of major in the
Marine Corps. She was appointed to that rank on January 29, 1943. She was
promoted to lieutenant colonel on November 22, 1943 and to the rank of colonel
on February 1, 1944.
95
When Colonel Streeter left the Marine Corps in December, 1945, General A.
A. Vandegrift, then Commandant of the Marine Corps, wrote her a commendatory
letter, which is quoted in part:
"....It is with deep regret that I contemplate your leaving, and I cannot
let the occasion pass without conveying to you some expression of my
admiration and appreciation of your outstanding service as Director of the
Marine Corps Women's Reserve from its inception in January 1943 until the
present time.
"Over that period, the Marine Corps Women's Reserve grew in size to a
maximum strength of 831 officers and 17,714 enlisted. It set a standard of
excellence which, in my opinion, could not have been excelled and would be
difficult to equal."
Colonel Streeter is joint donor with her mother of the Cheney Award,
given annually to some member of the United States Air Force for "acts of
valor or extreme fortitude or self-sacrifice." The award commemorates the
memory of Lieutenant William H. Cheney, the colonel's brother, who was killed
in an aviation accident in World War II.
In addition to the Legion of Merit, Colonel Streeter's medals include the
American Campaign medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
The colonel's husband, Thomas W. Streeter, to whom she was married in
1917, is a retired lawyer and banker. They live in Morristown, N. J., and
have four children: Frank S., Henry S., Thomas W., Jr., and Lilian. Her three
sons were all veterans of World War II.
- USMC -
Prepared by Division of Public Information,
Headquarters Marine Corps, June 1946
96
COLONEL KATHERINE A. TOWLE, USMC
Colonel Katherine A. Towle took office as Director of Women Marines on
November 4, 1948, after she became one of the first three women officers in
the regular Marine Corps.
General Clifton B. Cates, Commandant of the Marine Corps, administered
the oath of office to Colonel Towle, who also served as Director of the U. S.
Marine Corps Women's Reserve from December 7, 1945 to June 12, 1946.
Colonel Towle was born in Towle, California April 30, 1898, the daughter
of the last George Gould Towle and Katherine Meister Towle.
She was graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in May,
1920 with an A. B. degree, later receiving the M. A. degree in political
science from that school. In addition she has studied at Columbia University
in New York City. From 1929 until 1932 she was headmistress of the Miss
Ranson and Miss Bridges School for Girls at Piedmont, California.
When called to active duty simultaneously with the receipt of her
commission as captain in the U. S. Marine Corps Women's Reserve on February
25, 1943, she was employed as Assistant to the Manager, University of
California at Berkeley. She was one of the first to be commissioned in that
component of the Marine Corps, and holds another "first" title with her
appointment as the Director or Women Marines under the terms of the Women's
Armed Services Integration Act passed by the 80th Congress and signed by
President Truman in June, 1948.
In early March, 1943 she was ordered direct from civilian life to Marine
Corps Headquarters in Washington, D. C. Later that month she was ordered to
the Marine Detachment Naval Training School (Women's Reserve), Hunter College,
New York City, as the senior woman officer of the detachment.
In May of the same year she was detached from Hunter College, ordered to
temporary duty in Washington, and in early June was assigned to the special
staff of the Commanding General, Camp Lejeune, New River, North Carolina as
"Assistant for Women's Reserve," with the opening of the Women's Reserve
Training Center there.
While serving in that capacity in February, 1944, she was advanced to the
rank of major.
97
Her next duty assignment, beginning in September, 1944 was in Marine
Corps Headquarters as Assistant Director of the U. S. Marine Corps Women's
Reserve. In March, 1945, she was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel,
and with the resignation of the Director of the Women's Reserve, she became
the second Director on December 7, 1945. Her advancement to the rank of
colonel came simultaneously with her appointment by General A. A. Vandegrift,
then Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Colonel Towle was awarded a Letter of Commendation, with Ribbon, in
March, 1946, for "meritorious service during the entire period of the growth
and development of the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve...." Other
decorations include the American Campaign Medal and the World War II victory
Medal.
On June 12, 1946 Colonel Towle relinquished her position as Director of
the Women's Reserve and returned to the University of California at Berkeley
following her release from active service on August 18, 1946. From that time
until she reported to the Commanding General, Department of Pacific, San
Francisco, for active duty on September 23, 1948, she was assistant dean of
women at that university.
The colonel reported for duty at Marine Corps Headquarters October 18,
1948.
- USMC -
Prepared by Division of Public Information,
Headquarters Marine Corps, February 1949
98
These items and much more can be found at The Marine Corps Research Center (MCRC)
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