Free a Marine to Fight:Women Marines in World War IIby Colonel Mary V Strernlow, USMCR (Ret)

ome stories sound toocontrived to be true,•yet are repeated toooften to be dismissed asmere folklore. One

such tale was rescued and restored toits rightful place in history whenMary Eddy Furman confirmed that,yes, the portrait of Archibald Hen-derson, 5th Commandant of the Ma-rine Corps, crashed from the wall tothe buffet the evening that MajorGeneral Commandant Thomas Hol-comb announced his decision torecruit women into the Corps. Mrs.Furman, then a child, was a dinnerguest at a bon voyage dinner partygiven for her father, Colonel WilliamA. Eddy, and the Commandant's son,Marine Lieutenant Franklin Hol-comb, on 12 October 1942 when theCommandant was asked, "GeneralHolcomb, what do you think abouthaving women in the Marine Corps?"Before he could reply, the painting ofArchibald Henderson fell.

We can only surmise how Ar-chibald Henderson would have react-ed to the notion of using women torelieve male Marines "for essentialcombat duty:' On the other hand,General Holcomb's opposition waswell-known. He, as many other Ma-rines, was not happy at the prospect.But, in the fall of 1942, faced withthe losses suffered during the cam-

On the Cover: "Free a Marine to Fight"could well be the caption of this pictureas women Marine recruits pass male Ma-Tines Ifl combat gear heading for fieldtraining at Camp Lejeune in 1943.Department of Defense Photo (USMC)6153At left: A WI? color guard is pho-tographed at Headquarters, MarineCorps, summer 1944. Photo courtesy ofMary R. Rich

paign for Guadalcanal — and poten-tial future losses in upcomingoperations — added to mountingmanpower demands, he ran out ofoptions.

With 143,388 Marines on boardand tasked by the Joint Chiefs ofStaff to add 164,273 within a year,the Marine Corps had already lo-wered its recruiting standards andraised the age ceiling to 36. At thesame time, President Roosevelt's planto impose a draft threatened the eliteimage earned by the selective, hard-fighting, disciplined Marines, and so,the Commandant did what he had todo. In furtherance of the war effort,he recommended that as many wom-en as possible should be used in non-combatant billets.

The idea was unpopular, butneither original nor unprecedented;women were already serving with theArmy and in the Navy and CoastGuard Reserves. In fact, duringWorld War I, 300 "Marinettes" hadfreed male Marines from their desksand typewriters at Headquarters,Marine Corps, to go to France.

Periodically, between World WarI and World War II, prodded by peo-ple like Army Chief of Staff GeneralGeorge C. Marshall and Congress-woman Edith Nourse Rogers, mili-tary and elected leaders gave fleetingthought to the idea of a women'scorps. Marshall knew that GeneralJohn I. Pershing had specificallyasked for, but not received,uniformed female troops. Rogers, aRed Cross volunteer in France in1917, was angry that women whohad been wounded and disabled dur-ing the war were not entitled tohealth care or veterans' benefits. Shepromised that ". . . women would notagain serve with the Army without

the protection the men got:'Yet, until 1941, not many people

took the available studies seriouslyand even advocates could not agreeon whether the women should be en-listed directly into the military or bekept separate, in an auxiliary, wherethey would work as hostesses, librar-ians, canteen workers, cooks,waitresses, chauffeurs, messengers,and strolling minstrels.

Congresswoman Rogers eventuallycompromised and settled for a smallauxiliary and in May 1941 she in-troduced H.R. 4906, a bill to estab-lish the Women's Army AuxiliaryCorps (WAAC) to make available'1 . . to the national defense theknowledge, skill, and special train-ing of the women of the nation:' Thelegislators argued and stalled. Eventhe brazen Japanese attack on PearlHarbor was not enough to movethem to pass the bill until 15 May1942.

Unfortunately, the notion wasdoomed from the start and theWAAC, an auxiliary of women whowere neither military nor civilian, ul-timately was reorganized and con-verted to full military status as theWomen's Army Corps (WAC) in latesummer 1943. Meanwhile the Navywatched the unraveling of the WAACvery closely as it struggled with itsown version of a plan for women.

Some say there were naval officerswho preferred to enlist ducks, dogs,or monkeys to solve the manpowershortage, but the decision was madeat the highest level to use women andfurthermore, recognizing the fate ofthe failed WAAC, the women wouldbe "in" the Navy. With sideline helpfrom Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, theNavy bill, Public Law 689, wassigned on 30 July 1942, establishing

the first woman on active duty in theWorld War II Marine Corps. A fewweeks earlier, Mrs. Anne A. Lentz,a civilian clothing expert who hadhelped design the uniforms for theembryonic MCWR, was quietlycommissioned with the rank of cap-tain. She had come to Marine Head-quarters on a 30-day assignmentfrom the WAAC and stayed.

By all accounts, the selection ofMrs. Streeter to head the MCWR wasinspired. It fell to this woman whohad never before held a paying job,to facilitate recruiting, training, ad-ministration, and uniforming of thenew Women's Reserve.

Mrs. Streeter, 47, president of herclass at Byrn Mawr despite complet-ing only two years of college, wifeof a prominent lawyer and business-man, mother of four including threesons in service and a 15-year-olddaughter, and actively involved for20 years in New Jersey health andwelfare work, was selected from afield of 12 outstanding womenrecommended by Dean Virginia C.Giidersleeve of Barnard College,Columbia University. Dean Gilders-leeve chaired the Advisory Educa-tional Council which had earlierrecommended to the Navy the selec-tion of Lieutenant CommanderMildred McAfee, Director of theWAVES.

Colonel Littleton W. T. Wailer, Jr.,Director of Reserve, and his assistant,Major C. Brewster Rhoads, travelledacross the country to interview allcandidates personally, and discreetinquiries also were made about thenominees. The Commandant firmlybelieved the success of the MCWRwould depend largely on the charac-ter and capabilities of its director.Mrs. Streeter must have seemed anobvious choice. She was confident,spirited, fiercely patriotic and high-principled. Discussing the interviewin later life, she said:

As nearly as I can make out,General Holcomb said, "If I've

got to have women, I've got tohave somebody in charge inwhom I've got complete confi-dence:' So he called on GeneralWailer. General Waller said, "IfI've got to be responsible for thewomen, I've got to have some-body in whom I have completeconfidence." And he called onMajor Rhoads. So then the twoof them came out to see me.Having passed muster with both

Colonel Waller and Major Rhoads,Mrs. Streeter was scheduled for aninterview with General Holcomb. Inthe course of the first meeting, heasked repeatedly whether she knew

any Marines. Dismayed, and con-vinced she would be disqualified be-cause she did not know the rightpeople, she answered honestly thatshe knew no Marines. In fact, thiswas exactly what the Commandantwanted to hear because he worriedthat if she had high-ranking friendsin the Corps, she might circumventthe chain of command when shecouldn't get her way. After the inter-view, Colonel Wailer said he thoughtit went well, but the appointment stillhad to be approved by the Secretaryof the Navy. That was good news forMrs. Streeter since Secretary Knoxwas a close friend of her mother and

Ccl Streeter poses with two other won-zen's reserve directors: Capt Dorothy St rat-ton, head of the Coast Guard SPARS, left, and Capt Mildred McAfee, of the WAVEs.

Photo courtesy of Mary R. Rich

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her in-laws, and her husband hadbeen the Secretary's personal counsel.

Throughout her long life, RuthStreeter remained a devoted Marine,but the Corps had not been her firstchoice. After the fall of France in1940, Mrs. Streeter believed the Unit-ed States would be drawn into war.In interviews she spoke of Germansubmarines sinking American shipsa mile or two off the New Jerseyshore, in plain sight of Atlantic City.So, fully intending to be part of thewar effort, she learned to fly, earneda commercial pilot's license, andeventually, bought her own smallplane. In the summer of 1941 Streeterjoined the Civil Air Patrol, andalthough her plane was used to flymissions aimed at keeping the ene-my subs down, to her enormous frus-tration, she was relegated to the

position of adjutant, organizingschedules and doing ". . . all the dirtywork:'

In later years, retired ColonelStreeter reminisced that British wOm-en were flying planes in England ear-ly in the war and she expectedAmerican women to be organized toferry planes to Europe. When, at last,the quasi-military Women Air Serv-ice Pilots (WASPs) was formed un-der the leadership of the legendaryaviatrix, Jackie Cochran, Mrs. Street-er was 47 years old, 12 years beyondthe age limit. Nevertheless, she triedto enlist four times and was rejectedfour times before she asked to meetJackie Cochran personally, and thenshe was rejected the fifth time.

In January 1943, before the pub-lic knew about the Marine Corps'plan to enlist women, Mrs. Streeter

inquired about service in the WAVES.She asked about flying in the Navybut was told she could be a groundinstructor. She declined and a monthlater found herself in Washington,the first director of the MCWR.

After Major Streeter and CaptainLentz were on board, six additionalwomen were recruited for positionsconsidered critical to the success ofthe Women's Reserve. They werehandpicked because of their specialabilities, civilian training and ex-perience, and then, with neither mili-tary training nor indoctrination, theywere commissioned and assigned asfollows: Women's Reserve represen-tative for public relations, First Lieu-tenant E. Louise Stewart; Women'sReserve representative for trainingprogram, Captain Charlotte D. Cow-er; Women's Reserve representative

Capt Henry W Bransom speaks to a group of WAVES whovolunteered to transfer to the Marine Corps and work in

recruiting offices, such as this one in Washington, D.C. Theywore WAVE uniforms until USMC uniforms were ready.

Photo courtesy of Marine Corps Gazette

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for classification and detail, CaptainCornelia D. T. Williams; Women'sReserve representative for WestCoast activities, Captain LillianO'Malley Daly (who had been aMarinette in World War I and per-sonal secretary to the Commandantsfrom that time); Women's Reserverepresentative for recruit depot, Cap-tain Katherine A. Towle; and Assis-tant to the Director, MCWR,Captain Helen C. O'Neill.

The somewhat dubious distinctionof being last to take women had itsbenefits. The missteps and problemsof the WAACs, WAVES, and SPARSwere duly noted and carefully avoid-ed by the Marines, but more signifi-cantly, the other services weregenerous in sharing advice andresources. Right from the beginning,the Navy was a full partner in get-ting the fledgling MCWR off to agood start.

There was widespread skepticismabout whether men could properlyselect female applicants, so womenwere sought immediately for recruit-ing duty. The Navy sounded a callamong WAVE officer candidates and19 volunteers were selected for trans-fer and assigned to Marine procure-ment offices where, still dressed• intheir Navy uniforms, they set towork recruiting the first Marinewomen.

By agreement between the NavyBureau of Personnel and Headquart-ers, Marine Corps, and to avoid com-petition in the recruiting of womenfor either naval service, Navalprocurement offices were used byMarine procurement sections. Wom-en interested in joining the WAVESor the Marines went to one office toenlist and receive physical examina-tions. In time, however, the MarineCorps developed its own network ofrecruiting offices. The official an-nouncement finally came on Satur-day, 13 February 1943, and womenenthusiastically answered the call to"Be a Marine ... Free a Man toFight:' Although enlistments were

scheduled to begin on the followingMonday, the record shows that atleast one woman, Lucille E. McClar-ren of Nemacolin, Pennsylvania,signed up earlier, on 13 February.

Women who aspired to serve as aWR had to meet rather stringentqualifications which prescribed notonly their age, education, and stateof health, but their marital status aswell. At the start, the eligibility re-quirements were similar for bothofficers and enlisted women: UnitedStates citizenship; not married to aMarine; either single or married butwith no children under 18; height notless than 60 inches; weight not lessthan 95 pounds; good vision andteeth.

For enlisted or "general service;' asit was called, the age limits were from20 to 35, and an applicant was re-quired to have at least two years ofhigh school. For officer candidates,requirements were the same as forWAVES and SPARS: age from 20 to49; either a college graduate, or acombination of two years of collegeand two years of work experience.

In time, regulations were relaxedso that the wives of enlisted Marineswere allowed to join, and enlistedwomen could marry after boot camp.

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Black women were not specificallybarred from the segregated MarineCorps, but on the other hand, theywere not knowingly enlisted. Whileit is rumored that several black wom-en "passed" as white and served in theMCWR, none have been recorded.Officially, the first black women Ma-rines, Annie E. Graham and Ann E.Lamb, arrived at Parris. Island forboot training on 10 September 1949.

Early recruiting was so hectic thatin some instances, women weresworn in and put directly to work inthe procurement offices, delayingmilitary training until later. Ameri-can women were determined to dotheir part even if it meant defying theobjections of parents, brothers, andboyfriends who tried to keep themfrom joining up.

Marian Bauer's parents were soshaken at her decision to enlist thatthey refused to see her off. But thenthere were the lucky ones like JaneTaylor, who remembers the wise ad-vice from her father, a World War Isailor, "Don't ever complain to me.You're doing this of your own freewill. You weren't drafted or forced.Now, go — learn, travel, and do yourjob to the best of your ability:' ZettaLittle, the daughter of Salvation

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 147-81The first WR recruits to be shipped to New York for training at Hunter Collegereceive instructions from lstLt Helen Perrell at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station.

Army officers, joined because, ".someone waved a flag and said mybrother would come home from thewar sooner if I did."

The Marines were serious aboutthe weight limits and just as under-weight male enhistees have alwaysdone, underweight women devouredbananas washed down with water tobring their weight up to the required95 pounds. Audrey Bennington, af-ter being rejected by a Navy doctorbecause she was underweight, left theinduction center to gorge herself, andwhen she returned, the corpsmanturned accomplice, looked away asshe climbed on the scale clutching herfur coat and shoes. An equally ac-commodating corpsman rested hisfoot on the scale and wrote down 95pounds when diminutive DaneliaWedge was weighed the second time."Wedgie" got as far as Camp Lejeunebut was afraid her military career

was over when a doctor asked whathad caused her to lose so muchweight since enlistment. He accept-ed her quick response, 'Well, sir, longtrain rides don't agree with me."

Throughout the war the minimumage, set by law, remained unchangedeven though it was sometimesdifficult to defend. After all, someteenagers argued, 18-year-old girlswere able to enlist in World War I,and even some 17-year-olds joinedwith their parents' consent. Otherswondered why 18-year-old boyscould be sent to combat, yet 18-year-old girls could not serve at all.

While some parents fought to keeptheir girls home, others asked specialconsideration for daughters whowere too young to enlist. One of themost poignant letters came from aWorld War I holder of the Distin-guished Service Cross who wrote tothe Commandant in January 1943,

even before news of the Women'sReserve was announced:

I know this is no time toreminisce, but I do want tobring this to your attention. Iam the Marine from 96th Com-pany, Sixth Regiment:, who waswith Lieutenant [Clifton B.]Cates and a few other Marinesthat captured Bouresches,France, and I turned over thefirst German prisoner andmachine gun to you that ourbattalion captured on the nightof 6 June 1918. I have a big re-quest to ask . . . As I have nosons to give to the Marines, Iwould be more than happy ifyou. . . would recommend mydaughter to the newly-formedMarines Women ReserveCorps. While I appreciate thather age may be a little young,she will be 18 this June . . . I

LtCol Streeter welcomes national officers of the Marine CorpsLeague Auxiliary to the WR barracks at Henderson Hull. Fromleft are Mrs. Mabel Murry, LtCol Streeter, Auxiliary President

Mrs. Louise Jacobsen, and Mrs. Olyse Marc hi. LtCol St reefernever missed an opportunity to reassure civilians that amotherly figure was watching over her women Marines.

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 12270

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feel sure she could fit into yourprogram . . . surely this is nottoo much for a D.S.C. ex-Marine to ask of you .

Recruiting for the MCWR wasalmost too successful and oneprocurement officer, cautioning thatthe number of applicants so far ex-ceeded the quotas that he feared abacklash of ill will, suggested thatpublicity be curtailed. Within onemonth of MCWR existence, whileMarine forces regrouped after thecampaign for Guadalcanal, and pre-pared for the move to New Georgiaand the advance up the Solomonschain, Colonel Waller reported: "Thewomen of the country have respond-ed in just the manner we expected• . . . Thousands of women havevolunteered to serve in the Women'sReserve and from them we have al-ready selected more than 1,000 forthe enlisted ranks and over 100 asofficers:'

Naturally, each service wanted torecruit the very best candidates, andthe women directors, joined in a sin-gleness of purpose, set aside inter-Service rivalry to get the job done.Typically, the four leaders, MajorStreeter; Major Oveta Culp Hobby,WAAC and WAC; Lieutenant Com-mander Mildred H. McAfee,WAVES; and Lieutenant CommanderDorothy C. Stratton, SPARS, ironedout their differences on recruitingwomen from the war industries, civilservice, and agriculture, and submit-ted a recommendation to the JointArmy-Navy Personnel Board whicheventually became an all-Servicepolicy.

Women working in war industrieswere discouraged from enlisting, butsome were persistent and in the endwere required to go to the local officeof the United States EmploymentService for approval. Civil Serviceemployees needed a written release"without prejudice" from their agen-cy and when a reluctant employerreleased the employee "withprejudice;' none of the Armed Serv-

ices would consider her applicationfor 90 days. Marines went a step fur-ther and barred their own civilianwomen employees who enlisted fromworking in their original jobs evenif classified to a similar military oc-cupational specialty.

Almost immediately, Major Street-er and the public relations officer,Lieutenant Stewart, toured the UnitedStates, speaking at many gatheringssuch as womens clubs and Chambersof Commerce, to explain the purposeof the MCWR and to win public sup-port. A more subtle but equally im-portant reason for the tour andindeed for having a Director ofWomen's Reserve at all, according toColonel Streeter, ". . . was because theparents were not going to let their lit-tle darlings go in among all thesewolves unless they thought thatsomebody was keeping a motherlyeye on them:'

Families had good reason to be ap-prehensive; the early months weredifficult for the Women Reservists.Of all the problems, ranging frombarracks obviously designed only formale occupancy to the scarcity ofuniforms, the most trying were thestares and jeers of the men which inthe words of Colonel Katherine A.Towle, second Director of theMCWR, ". . . somehow had to bebrazened out:'

From the start, the directors ofthe WACS, WAVES, SPARS, andMCWR focused their energy on thewar effort, but it was difficult not tobe distracted by the change in atti-tude of the fickle public whose ear-ly enthusiasm for women in uniformgave way to a nasty, demeaningsmear campaign that started as awhisper and grew to a roar. TheWAAC took the brunt of the abuseand never really recovered. It was sobad that some suggested it might bepart of an enemy plot to sabotage thenation's morale. Sadly, a military in-telligence investigation showedotherwise.

Nevertheless, the MCWR met its

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goal on schedule and reachedstrength of 18,000 by 1 June 1944.Then, all recruiting stopped for near-ly four months and when it was re-sumed on 20 September 1944, it wason a very limited basis.

Everyone agreed that the MCWR'srecruiting success was directly tied tothe Marine Corps' reputation — thetoughest, the bravest, the most selec-tive. Women like Inga Frederiksendid not hesitate to accept thechallenge of joining the best. Whena SPAR recruiter told her she wassmart not to join the Marines becausethey were a lot rougher, Inga knewshe had to be a Marine.

Thanks to the Navy, officer train-ing began when the MCWR was onlyone month old. Sharing training fa-cilities saved time and precious man-power in getting the women out andon the job. Moreover, Marinesbenefitted from the Navy's close rela-tionship with a group of prominentwomen college presidents, deans, andcivic leaders who gave sound advicebased on years of experience withwomen's programs. Just as importantthey offered several prestigious col-lege campuses for WAVE and subse-quently, MCWR training.

The Navy's Midshipmen Schoolfor women officers, established atSmith College in Northampton, Mas-sachusetts, later branched out tonearby Mount Holyoke College inSouth Hadley. Enlisted women weretrained at Hunter College in NewYork City, and without question, thedistinguished reputations of thesetwo institutions enhanced the pub-lic image of the WAVES and thewomen Marines.

The first group of 71 Marineofficer candidates arrived at the U.S.Midshipmen School (Women'sReserve) at Mount Holyoke on 13March 1943. The women Marineswere formed into companies underthe command of a male officer,

Major E. Hunter Hurst, but, similarto Marine detachments on boardships, the WR unit was part of theWAVES school complement, underfinal authority of the commandingofficer of the Midshipmen School.

Officer candidates joined as pri-vates and after four weeks, if success-ful, were promoted to officer cadet,earning the right to wear the covet-ed silver OC pins. At that pointwomen who failed to meet the stan-dards were given two options: trans-fer to Hunter College to completebasic enlisted training or go home toawait eventual discharge. Cadetswho completed the eight-week coursebut were not recommended for acommission were asked to submittheir resignations to the Comman-dant. In time, they were discharged,but permitted to reenlist as privatesunless they were overage.

A disappointment shared by mem-bers of the first Officer Candidates'Class (0CC) and recruit class wasthe scarcity of uniforms. Both trainedfor several weeks in civilian clothesbecause uniform deliveries were so

slow. In fact, the official photo of thefirst platoon to graduate from bootcamp at Hunter College is a master-ful bit of innocent deceit because asAudrey L. Bennington tells it, "Onlythe girls in the first row—and a fewin the second row— had skirts on. Wein the other rows had jackets, shirts,ties and caps, but—NO skirts. Lordand Taylor was a bit late in gettingskirts to you:'

Recruits received very precise andclear instructions before leavinghome. They were told to bring rain-coat and rain hat (no umbrellas),lightweight dresses or suits, plainbathrobe, soft-soled bedroom slip-pers, easily laundered underwear,play suit or shorts for physical edu-cation (no slacks), and comfortabledark brown, laced oxfords because,

experience has proven that drill-ing tends to enlarge the feet:' Theywere also warned not to leave homewithout orders, not to arrive beforethe exact time and date stamped onthe orders, and not to forget their ra-tion cards.

During the first four weeks the

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MCWR curriculum was identical tothat of the WAVES, except for drillwhich was taught by reluctant maledrill instructors transferred to MountHolyoke from the Marine CorpsRecruit Depot, Parris Island, SouthCarolina. Officer candidates studiednaval organization and administra-tion, naval personnel, naval historyand strategy, naval law and justice,and ships and aircraft. The secondphase of training was devoted to Ma-rine Corps subjects taught by maleMarines and later, as they, them-selves became trained, WR officers.This portion of training was conduct-ed apart from the WAVES and in-cluded subjects such as Marine Corpsadministration and courtesies, mapreading, interior guard, safeguardingmilitary information, and physicalconditioning.

On 6 April, members of the firstofficer class received their OC pinsand on 4 May history was made asthe first women ever became com-missioned officers in the MarineCorps. Retired Colonel Julia E. Ham-blet, who twice served as a Director

The last class of WRs to graduate from boot camp at HunterCollege, The Bronx, are at the far end of the formation of Ma-rifles and WAVES held on the grounds of Columbia Universi-

Photo courtesy of Evelyn Waliman Gins

ty. Between 27 March and 10 July 1943, more than 3,000women Marines were fully trained at Hunter before allMCWR schools were moved to Camp Lejeune later that year.

of Women Marines, recalled the com-ical reactions she and other womenof the first officers class received:"That first weekend, we were alsomistaken for Western Union girls:'

The Marine Corps section of theMidshipmen School operated on atwo-part overlapping schedule, witha new class arriving each month. Thefirst three classes each received seven-and-a-half weeks of training. In all,214 women officers completed 0CCtraining at Mount Holyoke.

Meanwhile, Headquarters, MarineCorps, was making plans to consoli-date all MCWR training at CampLejeune, North Carolina, by 30 June.The women of the fourth OfficerCandidates' Class reported to MountHolyoke on 5 June, were promotedto cadet on the 29th, boarded trooptrains for the two-day trip to CampLejeune on 1 July, and finally gradu-ated on 7 August.

Two weeks after the first officerclass reported to Mount Holyoke, en-

The 1st Platoon, U.S. Navalter College in New York City,only the women in the first

listed women were ordered to theU.S. Naval Training School (Women'sReserve), at Hunter College in TheBronx, New York City. Sevenhundred twenty-two "boots" arrivedin three increments between 24 and26 March and were billeted in near-by apartment houses. On the 26th,21 platoons of women Marines be-gan training with the WAVES and on25 April they graduated. Since theschool was designed for WAVE in-doctrination, the curriculum waslargely geared for the Navy. Somesubjects were clearly not pertinentfor Marines, so modifications weremade and once again reluctant maleMarines were pulled from Parris Is-land to be instructors. Training ses-sions varied from three and a half tofive weeks and besides the dreadedphysical examinations, time was al-lotted for uniforming, drill, physicaltraining, and lectures on customs andcourtesies, history and organization,administration, naval law, map read-ing, interior guard, defense against

chemical attack, defense against airattack, identification of aircraft, andsafeguarding military information.

Between 26 March and 10 July1943, six classes of recruits, of ap-proximately 525 each, arrived in-crementally every two weeks. Of the3,346 women who began recruittraining at Hunter, 3,280 graduated.

And again, as at Mount Holyoke,separate Marine companies wereformed into a battalion under thecommand of a regular officer, MajorWilliam W. Buchanan, who report-ed to Navy Captain William F Ams-den, commanding officer of theschool. Captain Katharine A. Towle,who had been specifically recruitedfrom the University of California atBerkeley and commissioned directlyfrom civilian life without any Marinetraining, was Major Buchanan'ssenior woman staff officer. Actual-ly, she was the only woman Marineofficer at Hunter until the firstofficers' candidate class was commis-sioned. The rest of the Marine Corpsstaff included 33 male instruc-tors —10 officers and 23 enlistedmen — to teach classroom subjects tothe Marine women and 15 to 20 maledrill instructors to supervise the closeorder drill of all "boots," WAVES andMarines.

Captain Towle, destined to be thesecond director of the MCWR andthe first Director of Women Marinesafter passage of the Women's ArmedForces Integration Act of 1948,described her indoctrination into theCorps in a 1969 interview:

No one could have beengreener or less military than Iin those early days. I even cameaboard the school in my civilianclothes. My uniforms were stillin the process of being tailoredfor me in New York. I could tiethe four-in-hand uniform tie formy uniform khaki shirt, butthat was about all. I was soon,however, to learn basic proce-dures under the kind andwatchful tutelage of the Marine

Training School (Women's Reserve), gathered at Hun-April 1943. Because uniform shipments were delayed,row and a few in the second wore uniform skirts.

Photo courtesy of Audrey L. Bennington

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Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 310463 Col Katherine A. Towle, second director o f the Women's Reserve and first post- war Director o f Women Marines, was a dean at the University of California, Ber- keley, before entering the Marine Corps.

Corps detachment's sergeant major, a Marine of some thirty years' service. He really must have had some bad moments.

What you will do when you're a good Marine, is really something. Every day for the first week he would escort me to a quiet room away from cu- rious eyes (which was just as well) and give me instructions in how to salute properly, as well as other helpful lessons on what was expected of a Marine Corps officer. And I shall cer- tainly always be grateful to Ser- geant Major [Halbert A.] McElroy . . . for helping to make a proper officer out of me. He really personified the pride of being a Marine and he soon indoctrinated me with this same feeling. I was determined, no matter what happened, not to let him down after he had spent so much time on me, and I don't believe I really ever did.

Training: Camp Lejeune

ing, but Marines soon saw the ad- vantage of having their own schools. It wasn't only that Mount Holyoke and Hunter Colleges were over- crowded and st retched beyond reasonable limits by the number of women arriving every week. There was a larger motive for moving MCWR schools to Camp Lejeune and, simply, it was the famed Marine esprit de corps. Camp Lejeune, where thousands of Marines were prepar- ing for deployment overseas was the largest Marine training base on the East Coast and offered sobering op- portunities for the women to observe field exercises and weapons demon- strations, and to see the faces of the young men they would free to fight.

Major Hurst, commanding officer of the Marine Detachment at Mount Holyoke, understood almost im- mediately the drawbacks of trying to indoctrinate and train Marines in such patently civilian surroundings as a college campus. Less than a month after training began he wrote Brigadier General Waller:

In drawing these up [training schedules], I found myself wish-

ing 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 i t if Mrs. Franklin D. Rooswelt 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 . . . . Nearly a half century later, the re-

tired 23d Commandant of the Ma- rine Corps, General Wallace M. Greene, Jr., expressed a like senti- ment when he wrote in 1990:

I commenced to realize the meaning of sexism in the armed

The headquarters of the Women's Reserve Schools at Camp Lejeune supervised the recruit training of more than 18,000 women during the c o m e of World War 11.

Photo courtesy of Mary R. Rich

Planners originally thought to use existing Navy resources and facilities for all MCWR recruiting and train-

forces while I was a MarineCorps observer with the Britisharmy during the Battle for Bri-tain. During a night bombingraid against London, I watchedthe women gunners in an an-tiaircraft battery battle the in-coming German planes. I

suddenly asked myself, "Whyaren't our women — able, loyal,and patriotic as they are —permitted to participate in thisfashion?"

The Marine Corps Women's Re-serve Schools — officer candidate andboot training along with certainspecialist schools — opened in July1943 under the command of ColonelJohn M. Arthur. Officer candidatesand recruits in training at MountHolyoke and Hunter Colleges weretransferred to Camp Lejeune, NewRiver, North Carolina, where near-ly 19,000 women became Marinesduring World War II.

Just one month before the MCWRschools opened, Major Streeter askedthat weapons demonstrations bemade a regular part of the curricu-la. Frankly, she wasn't satisfied with

mere classroom lectures on combatequipment, landing operations, andtactics so she tactfully suggested:

If it is possible to arrangetransportation and schedulesthat would not interrupt thetraining of the men in theselines of work, I believe it wouldbe a definite inspiration to theMarine Corps Women's Reserveto see them actually in training.

As usual, her instincts were righton target and the envious WRs at-tended two half-day sessions observ-ing demonstrations in hand-to-handcombat, use of mortars, bazookas,flame-throwers, guns of all sorts, am-tracs, and landing craft.

The recruits traveled to Wilming-ton, North Carolina, on women Ma-rine troop trains of about 500,commanded by a woman lieutenantand two enlisted assistants. They ar-rived at the depot as civilians, but thetransition to Marines began immedi-ately. The women were lined up, is-sued paper armbands identifyingthem as Marine "boots;' ordered topick up luggage—anybody's lug-

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gage — anybody's — and marchedaboard the train. The process acceler-ated at the other end where they weremet by shouting NCOs who herdedthem into crowded buses to be takento austere, forbidding barracks withlarge, open squadbays, group showerrooms, toilet stalls without doors,and urinals.

The women were quartered in thered brick barracks in Area One setaside for the exclusive use of thewomen's schools. Their patriotismand idealism was sorely tested andsome readily admit they cried whenthey realized what they had done.Others wondered why they had doneit at all. There was, however, no timein the schedule for adjustment.General processing, medical exami-nations, uniforming, and classifica-tion tests and interviews to assessabilities, education, training, andwork experience were top priority.Orientation classes and close orderdrill were scheduled for the first dayand a strict training regimen kickedoff with 0545 reville.

One thing hadn't changed from thedays at Mount Holyoke andHunter — the male Dl's weren't hap-py. Shaping up a gaggle of "BAMs"("broad-assed Marines") was notwhat they wanted to do with a wargoing on. Feeling the scornful scru-tiny of fellow Marines, it seemed thatthe DIs took on a touch more brava-do than they dared on the collegecampuses. One boot felt the DIsresented the women, "... more thana battalion of Japanese troops:' Shewas probably right.

For the first year, at least, manymale Marines didn't take the troubleto disguise their resentment. Dis-regarding the Commandant's wish-es about nicknames, some Marinesvisibly enjoyed embarrassing theWRs with the derogatory label,BAMs. Some women took it in theirstride, but it became tiresome andmany were furious. When the fa-mous bandleader, Fred Waring,referred to the WRs as BAMs, a con-

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 6180WI? recruit Mary C. Harris learns first-hand about a carbine from GySgt DanielCarroll, a member of Edson's Raiders recently returned from the Southwest PacificWRs were the only military women to receive combat training during boot camp.

Marines in post exchanges,moving picture houses, andother places in the hearing ofmembers of the Women'sReserve. . . . This conduct.indicates a laxity in disciplinewhich will not be tolerated.Commanding officers will beheld responsible .

By mid-1944 open hostility gaveway to some sort of quiet truce andit wasn't long before the women'scompetence, self-assurance, sharp ap-pearnce, and pride won over a goodmany of their heretofore detractors.It was put in perspective by a youngcorporal wounded at Guadalcanal:"Well, I'll tell you. I was kinda soreabout it (the women Marines) atfirst. Then it began to make sense —though only if the girls are gonna betops, understand:' And, in time, Ma-rines could even be counted on totake on soldiers and sailors whodared to harass WRs in theirpresence.

tingent got up and walked out dur-ing a performance at Camp Lejeune.

Marjorie Ann Curtner recalled aparticularly mean-spirited stunt en-gineered by a group of Seabees whocorralled every stray dog in the area,shaved them like poodles, painted"BAM" on their sides, and set themfree to roam the ranks of a graduat-ing WR platoon.

For the first time in their lives,many of the women experienced thehurtful sting of coarse epithets asmen vented their feelings about theCorps taking "niggers, dogs, andwomen." Crude language and blatant

disdain took its toll on the morale ofthe Women's Reserve and its direc-tor, causing the Commandant to takesteps to end it. In August 1943, hesent a clear message, fixing respon-sibillity for change on unit command-ing officers when he wrote:

Information reaching thisHeadquarters indicates thatsome . . . officers and men ofthe Marine Corps treat mem-bers of the Women's Reservewith disrespect . . . . Coarse oreven obscene remarks are beingmade without restraint by male

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In September 1943, the first femalehometown platoon, made up entire-ly of women from Philadelphiareported for boot camp. The publicrelations gimmick of forming a pla-toon of women recruited from thesame area and sending them to train-ing as a unit caught on quickly andon 10 November, the 168th birthdayof the Marine Corps, the PotomacPlatoon of women from Washington,D.C., and the first of two WR pla-toons from Pittsburgh were sworn inat fitting ceremonies.

Seventeen more hometown pla-toons followed; from Albany, Buffalo(two), and Central New York; Pitts-burgh, Johnstown, Fayette County,and Westmoreland County, Penns-lyvannia; Dallas and Houston, Texas;Miami, Florida; St. Paul, Minneso-ta; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Seattle,Washington; the state of Alabama;northern New England; and southernNew England. Each platoon was or-dered to duty en masse, completedboot training together, and after-

Photo courtesy of Raelyn Harman SubramanianTo the WR recruits, uniform shortages were routine in the early days. Rose M. Nigro,one of the five women in the author's family who seroed with the women Marinesin World War II, and Betty Hall, had a long wait for a full issue. Here they wearrecruit badges, oxfords, and caps at boot camp at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

wards, received individual orders tospecialist schools or duty.

From 15 March 1943 until 15 Sep-tember 1945, 22,199 women were or-dered to recruit training and of these,21,597 graduated. The remaining 602were separated for medical reasons orbecause they were found unable toadapt to military life.

All women in the early OfficerCandidates' Classes were Class VI(a)reservists recruited directly fromcivilian life without the advantage ofenlisted experience. Consequently,for the first seven Officer CandidateClasses, the primary emphasis wason attitude adjustment, forming newhabits, learning the Marine Corps"way;' and adopting a military per-spective. Close order drill was usedto instill discipline and teach thewomen to respond to orders withprecision. To their dismay, old saltsfound that the renowned tactics fa-mous for making Marines out ofcivilians weren't working very wellwith women: shouting, "reading off;'and threats were virtually useless.The methods were changed eventu-ally, but only after the original staffmembers were removed. Colonel

Outstanding "boot," PFC Mary C. Har-ris, earned an immediate appointment toOfficer Candidates Class at CampLejeune in December1943. Officer Can-didate (OC) pins were earned after fourweeks of successful officer training,

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 6164

Streeter lamented that the problemwas never satisfactorily resolved sincethere were so few experienced officerson hand to work on it and there wasno time for experimentation.

For approximately seven months,from December 1943 to June 1944,the Officer Training School ran on athree-block plan with two candidates'classes and a post-commissioningcourse, Reserve Officer Class (ROC),meeting at the same time. Each classof about 60 was organized into acompany of two platoons, with acompany commander and two pla-toon leaders. As the manpowercrunch waned and the goal of 18,000women was reached, the three-blocksystem gave way to two-block in June1944, with one officer candidate classand one ROC in session concurrent-ly. A single-block plan was adopted

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in January 1945 and continued untilthe school closed on 15 October.

A significant change occurredwhen, in July 1943, commissionedstatus was opened to enlisted wom-en to take advantage of their ex-perience, and at the same time, buildmorale and esprit de corps. To beeligible, a Marine had to complete sixmonths service, be recommended byher commanding officer, and beselected by a board of male and fe-male officeri convened at Headquart-ers, Marine Corps. The eighth officerclass, in October 1943, was made upof both Class VI(a) and Class VI(b)reservists — the latter being Women'sReserve enlisted. Thereafter, themajority of new women officerscame from the ranks and from thatpoint on, only civilian women withcritical, specialized skills or excep-

Marine Corps Historical CollectionOn 13 February 1944, "Col Mike," the mascot of the Central Procurement Divisionin Chicago, tells 2dLt Florence Bailey what it was like in the Old Corps. The "Freea Marine to Fight" recruiting poster in the background has a portrait of a womanMarine painted by famed artist Douglas Crockwell. The original painting hungin the office of the Director of Women Marines until the billet was abolished in 1977.

described how they could assist lineofficers. ROC was immensely suc-cessful, principally because it was sopractical, and even experiencedMCWR officers, especially thosewho had been working in limitedfields such as recruiting, were sent foradvanced training.

Nine hundred sixty-five women,including the 11 with direct commis-sions and the 19 transferred from theWAVES at the start, were eventual-ly commissioned in the Marine CorpsReserve. Of the 589 Class VI(a) reser-vists who began officer training, 72or 12 percent were dropped and ofthe 641 Class VI(b) reservists select-ed from the ranks, 223 or 35 percentwere not commissioned.

tional leadership qualities were ac-cepted for Marine officer training.

Commissioning large numbers ofNCOs caused the MCWR to shift thefocus from making Marines out ofcivilian women to making officersout of enlisted women. An entirelynew attitude and point of view wascalled for and this led tothe creationof the Reserve Officer Class (ROC)for the newly commissioned officersin early December 1943.

It was meant to be a two-week in-troduction to life as an officer, but,almost immediately it was length-ened to four weeks to broaden thestudents' perspective and lessen thepressures that built up during basic

officer training. Classes were less for-mal, privileges and responsibilitieswere given, and rational problemsolving was stressed. The ROC stafftried to teach the new officers whatthey, if anyone, should have alreadyknown: toughness and threats arepoor substitutes for firmness andmotivation.

The staff revised and refined thecourse content for several months un-til finally, by the end of the thirdROC, it was satisfied. Experiencedofficers from Camp Lejeune, nearbyposts and stations, and Headquart-ers, Marine Corps augmented theregular staff. Outside speakers suchas the Red Cross field director, thechaplain, and post psychiatrist

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From the very beginning, selectedofficers and enlisted women weregiven specialist training and by theend of the war, 9,641 women—8,914enlisted and 727 officers—attendedschools run by civilians, the Army,Navy, and Marine Corps. The earli-est Navy courses were: AviationMachinist's Mate at the Naval Train-ing School, Memphis, Tennessee;Link Training Instructor at the NavalAir Station, Atlanta, Georgia; andAviation Storekeeper at IndianaUniversity, Bloomington, Indiana.The first Marine Corps schoolsopened to women were: cooks andbakers, motor transport, quarter-master, and non-commissionedofficers. After graduation from 0CCat Mount Holyoke, several officerswere sent to the Navy's Communica-tions School in South Hadley.

All in all, by the end of the warwomen attended some 30 specialistschools and the variety is a testamentto the dramatic shift in thinking onwhat women could do: first sergeant,paymaster, signal, parachute rigger,aerographer, clerical, control toweroperator, aerial gunnery instructor,celestial navigation, motion pictureoperator/technician, aircraft instru-ments technician, radio operator,

Department of Defense Photo (IJSMC) 7184Capt B. E. Tucker, Sgt Rita Schwartz, PFC Jeanette Walker, and PEC Jane Russell areshown in the fuselage of a Link Trainer, with the celestial dome in the background.By August 1944, WRs conducted all courses of Link instruction at Cherry Point.

radio material teletypewriter, post ex-change, uniform shop, automotivemechanic, carburetor and ignition,aviation supply, and photography.

The basic wardrobe was prettymuch chosen before the public an-nouncement of the Marine CorpsWomen's Reserve. In mid-December1942, the Commandant asked thatMrs. Anne Adams Lentz, an em-ployee of the War Department, be as-signedto Headquarters "for a periodof approximately 30 days:' Before thewar, Mrs. Lentz worked in the schooluniform department of a large NewYork City retail store, and then foreight months she assisted theWAACS with the design of their uni-

form. Action on the Commandant'sletter was swift and Mrs. Lentz cameon board in early January. After apreliminary consultation with theDepot Quartermaster in Philadel-phia, she went to New York to over-see the design and construction ofmodel uniforms for the Women'sReserve by the Women's GarmentManufacturers of New York. TheCommandant's guidance was specif-ic; he wanted the women dressed inthe traditional Marine forest greenwith red chevrons and he insistedthey look like Marines as much aspossible. This was in stark contrastto the Navy which denied its wom-en the privilege of wearing gold braidthroughout the war.

Before her 30-day assignment ex-

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Photos courtesy of Sarah Thorntonassigned to aviation units.

pired, Mrs. Lentz decided to becomea Marine, and became the first Wom-an Reservist when she was sworn inas a captain on 15 January 1943. Theoath of office was administered byher husband, Brigadier General JohnM. Lentz, USA, who was attached tothe Army Ground Forces Headquart-ers in Washington, D.C.

On 11 June 1943, a Uniform Unitwas created as part of the Women'sReserve Section at Marine CorpsHeadquarters to arrange for uniform-ing enlistees when assigned to activeduty, replenishing clothing from timeto time, and planning for futureneeds. Soon after, on 17 June, theMarine Corps Women's Reserve Uni-form Board was established to sug-gest articles of clothing and make

The photographs in this collage show various duties given to WRs

recommendations to the Comman-dant. The original uniform regula-tions were published in August 1943after approvals from the UniformBoard, the Commandant, and theSecretary of the Navy. But, this wasnot an issue so easily settled and afinal version reflecting numerouschanges, modifications, and addi-tions, was reissued on 30 April 1945as Uniform Regulations, U.S. MarineWomen's Reserve, 1945. These regu-lations remained in force and the uni-forms of women Marines changedvery little until a new wardrobe wasdesigned by the French couturier,Mainbocher, in 1952.

Officers were paid a uniform al-lowance and gratuity of $250 and en-listed women received $200. Withthis the women bought two winter

uniforms, hats, shoes, summer out-fits, a purse, wool-lined raincoat,specified accessories, and undergar-ments. To make certain that the care-fully designed uniforms lookedexactly as intended and met theCorps' high standards, 13 womenofficers were ordered to a six-week in-tensive training session where theywere drilled in the techniques oftailoring, alterations, clothing con-struction, and fitting before being as-signed to uniform shops run by thepost exchanges at major MarineCorps posts throughout the country.

The seemingly excessive attentionto the women's uniforms reflected notonly the Corps' well known concernwith appearance, but it showed anastute appreciation of the problemsencountered by the other services.

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The early WAAC uniform, for exam-ple, had been designed over a man'ssuit form with broad shoulders, nobosom, and slender hips. Althoughthe prototype looked just fine, thereal thing caused endless problems.

Unfortunately, the Marine CorpsWomen's Reserve adopted theWAVES' flawed system of supply anddistribution, selling clothingmanufactured by various firms at a10 percent mark-up to retail storesand then reselling it at a 30 percentmark-up to the Women Reservists.The arrangement was abandonedwithin a year because the prices wereexcessive, shortages were the rule,and the women refused to pay foruniform items with defects—no mat-ter how minor. The latter problemcaused a log jam which would have

For a publicity photograph, the women of Company H, 2dHeadquarters Battalion, Henderson Hall, model the variouswork and dress uniforms worn by women Marines during the

Department of Defense Photo (USMC) 13061

course of World War II. From left are PFC Florence Miller,Cpl Lois Koester, Cpl Carol Harding, Sgt Violet Salela, CplGrace Steinmetz, Cpl Rose Mazur, and PFC Mary Swiderski.

been avoided if uniforms were simplyissued with no arguments allowed.

Major reform was called for andon 16 February 1944, the UniformUnit of the Women's Reserve Section,Reserve Division, ProcurementBranch was transferred to the Officeof the Quartermaster General and be-came the Women's Reserve Section,Supply Division, QuartermasterDepartment. The first action was, toterminate all retail agreements andtake responsibility for uniformingaway from post exchanges.

Then, in August, four womenofficers became inspectors, visitingmanufacturers and doing whateverthey could to expedite the fulfillmentof contracts. But despite the severalorganizational changes and systemmodifications, in her final report atthe war's end, Colonel Streeter wrote,'1 . . the supply of MCWR clothingwas one of the few problems towhich a satisfactory solution had notbeen found at the time that demobili-zation of the Women's Reservebegan:'Col Katherine A. Towle, second director

On one point everyone agreed: allmatters of supply of the women's uni-forms should have been handled asit was for enlisted men.

Tailored femininity was the goal,and by all accounts, it was achieved.The widespread and enthusiastic ap-proval of the attractive uniforms gaveeveryoners morale a big lift, especiallybecause once on active duty, Marinescould not wear civilian clothing evenon liberty. Colonel Streeter was es-pecially proud of their appearanceand demeanor. In her words, "Youknow, they had a certain reserve.They always looked well. They heldthemselves well. They had a certaindignity. And that was each one ofthem

The MCWR uniform mirroredwhat was worn by all Marines incolor and style, but was cut from alighter-weight cloth. Generally,officers and enlisted women woreidentically styled uniforms of thesame fabric: this was not true of maleof the Marine Corps Women's Reserve,

Department of Defense Photos (USMC) 74162dLt Elizabeth McKinnon, left, wears thesummer service uniform with detacha-ble green officer's epaulets added so thatrank insignia could be seen more easily.

Marines. Women officers wore green,detachable epaulets on the shoulderstraps of summer uniforms and hadadditional dress uniforms. For dress,they wore the Marine officers' tradi-tional gilt and silver emblems and theenlisted women wore the gilt em-blems of enlisted Marines. Both worethe bronze eagle, globe, and anchoron their service uniforms, but posi-tioned it differently. While the ver-tical axis of the hemisphere paralleledthe crease line of the jacket collar forofficers, it was worn perpendicularto the floor by enlisted women.Coats, caps, shoes, gloves, handbags,and mufflers were the same for allranks. Enlisted women wore the samelarge chevrons as the men.

Officers and enlisted women worea forest green, serge man-tailoredjacket and straight, six-gore skirt dur-ing the colder seasons. A long-sleeved khaki shirt with four-in-handnecktie, green cap, brown shoes andgloves, and bronze metal buttonscompleted the outfit. Women Reser-vists were easily recognized by theirunique, visored bell-crowned hat,trimmed with a lipsick-red cordwhich set them apart from the

inspects WRs wearing winter service green at MCRD, Parris Island, in 1945.Photo courtesy of Sarah Thornton

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Department of Defense Photo (EJSMC) 13024Pvt Anna K. Peterson, a clerk in the Fa-mily Allowance Section at Headquart-ers, Marine Corps, enlisted to helpshorten the war so that her Navy hus-band could return as soon us possible.The fabric of her seersucker summerservice uniform was selected for comfort.

WACs, WAVES, and SPARS whosehats closely resembled one anothers.They had a heavy green overcoat orkhaki trenchcoat with detachable lin-ing, always worn with a red mufflerin winter. All women Marines ownedblack galoshes, boots, or rubbers tofit the unpopular, but comfortableoxfords.

Women Marines did not have adress blue uniform until 1952. Dur-ing World War II and for the sevenyears following, officers turned theirwinter service outfit into a dress uni-form with a white shirt and forestgreen tie in place of the routinekhaki. Enlisted women had no com-parable dress option.

The summer service uniform, adistinct departure from tradition, wasa two-piece green and white seer-sucker or plisse dress. The fabric wasspecially selected by Captain Lentzfor its comfort and laundering ease.V-necked and fastened with white orgreen plastic buttons, the jacket wasavailable with short or long sleeves.The first summer hat, a round capwith a snap brim, was short-livedand was replaced by one styled af-ter the winter hat, but in spruce green

with white cap cord and bronze but-tons. Later a garrison-style cap in thesame light green shade and trimmedwith white piping was added. Shoes,oxfords, or pumps, were brown anda white rayon muffler was worn withthe trenchcoat. When it was realizedthat officer rank insignia could notbe seen on the striped dress, greenshoulder boards were added and theywere fastened to the epaulets by theshoulder strap button and the rankinsignia.

The hands-down favorite uniformof all World War II WRs was theshort-sleeved, V-necked white twilluniform worn with gilt buttons onthe jacket and cap, dress emblems,

and white pumps. The stifflystarched uniform never failed toevoke compliments. Enlisted womenwere disheartened when, after thewar, because enlisted men had noequivalent uniform, it was discon-tinued.

Officers could choose among threesummer dress uniforms: the whiteone worn by the enlisted women butwith added green shoulder straps,summer dress "B' and summer un-dress "Cf' The latter two, made ofwhite twill, worsted, or palm beachmaterial were worn with a short-sleeved white blouse, and without anecktie or green shoulder straps. The"C" uniform was long sleeved and

Pvt Billie J. Redding married her hometown beau, Navy Ens William A. Lewis,in a military wedding in San Diego. The bride and her maid of honor, Helen Tay-lor, violated uniform regulations by wearing corsages on their white dress uniforms.

Photo courtesy of Billie J. Redding Lewis

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in ranks. Since nylon, rayon, and silkstockings were rationed because ofwartime shortages, some women inother services were allowed to use legmakeup, but not women Marines.

Covert slacks were worn for cer-tain duties, but the most commonwork uniform was the olive-drab,cotton utility uniform worn with theclumsy, heavy, high-topped shoesknown as boondockers. The trous-ers with a bib front and long, crossedstraps were worn over a short-sleeved, matching shirt or white teeshirt and topped by a long-sleevedjacket. Enlisted women stenciled theirrank on the shirt and jacket sleeves.

For recreation, field nights, andphysical conditioning, women Ma-rines wore the "peanut suit;' sonamed because of its color and crin-kled appearance. It was a tan, seer-sucker, one-piece, bloomer outfitwith ties at the bottom of the shorts.In keeping with prevailing standardsof propriety, the women modestlycovered their legs with a front-buttoned A-lined skirt when not ac-tively engaged in sports, exercise, orwork details.

collarless. On these two uniforms,the officers wore their dress emblemsnot on the collar as usual, but ontheir epaulets, near the armholeseams, and they centered the rank in-signia between the emblem and epau-let button. One WR reminisced thateven a lieutenant looked like a four-star general with so much metal onher shoulders.

Women Marines had only onehandbag, a brown, rough texturedleather purse with a shoulder strapand spring closure. They learned towear it over their left shoulder, leav-

ing their right hand free to salute.The same brown bag became a brightsummer accessory with the additionof a removable, spruce green, cottonpurse cover and matching shoulderstrap. Everyone wore dark brown,smooth leather oxfords or pumpswith the winter service uniform andsimilar white pumps for dress in thesummer. The dress pumps, with heelsbetween one and one-half and twoinches high, were trimmed with a flatbow.

Ladylike and fashionable full-length, beige, seamed stockings werede rigeur with all service and dressuniforms and cotton hose was worn

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One of the first lessons learned bythe women Marines was that therewere rules for everything. Lipstickand nail polish could be worn, andin fact were encouraged, but thecolor absolutely had to harmonizewith the red cap cord of the wintercap, regardless of the season. Thefavorite color was Montezuma Red,designed in their honor. Rouge, mas-cara, and hair coloring were permit-ted, but had to be inconspicuous.Realistically, it was nearly impossi-ble for a woman to tint or bleach herhair because the color had to matchthe information on her identificationcard. The regulations favored femi-nine hair styles with hair neither tooshort nor too long; by directive, haircould touch, but not cover the collar.

Photo courtesy of Barbara Baker RosinskiWRs Arlene Wij5on and Barbara Baker model work and dress versions of the sum-mer uniform. For dress, a bright green cotton cover was used over the purse.

Department ol Defense Photo (USMC) 301456Cpl Constance H. Bacon, a bank tellerbefore the war, worked as an auditor inthe Paymaster Department, Headquart-ers, Marine Corps. On her fingernails isregulation "Lipstick Red" nail polish,which was formulated to match the redcap cord of the winter service uniform.

In 1943 the country desperatelyneeded womanpower, but almost noone knew for certain just how far thelimits of tradition could be stretchedor, more likely, breached. By custom,working women were mainly em-ployed in offices, classrooms, hospi-tals, retail stores, libraries, beautyshops, or in homes as domestics. Notmany women drove trucks, or buses,and they certainly didn't fix them.

Photo courtesy of Eleanor Nocito Tuomi Women did not work in the trades—Pvt Eleanor Nocito, in dungarees and snap brim hat, served at MCAS, El Toro. plumbing, ekcticity, carpentry—and

Not even something as personal as A woman Marine bicycles at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in a seersucker "peanutunderwear escaped strict regulation. suit," named for its beige, crinkly fabric and bloomer legs, and worn for its comfort.Bras and girdles—whether needed or Photo courtesy of Raelyn Harman Subramanian

not— and full length white slips werealways worn underneath the serviceand dress uniforms. Handkerchiefscould be khaki when the khaki shirtwas worn, otherwise, they had to bewhite.

Hair ornaments were forbiddenand the only jewelry allowed weresimple rings and wrist watches.

The uniforms were fashionableand admired and thankfully beliedthe never-ending logistical problemssurrounding their design, specifica-tions, sizing, inspections, supply, anddistribution.

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