Opha May Johnson Project

Opha May Johnson Project In 1918, Opha May Johnson was the first of 300 plus women who showed up to take one of billets left open as our men went to war. She even typed up her own enlistment contract and had to have her husbands permission to join our beloved Corps. She opened the…

10th INF Battalion ~ Classification Platoon

Women Marines ~ 10th INF Battalion ~ Classification Platoon  Honor ~ Courage ~ Commitment My Story by PFC. Phyllis Silva-Keith (H.D. 1958) October 2017 In the 1940’s, when, Col. Julia Hamblet, USMCR, penned: “Once a Marine…Always a Marine…Then, now and always,” little did I know, all these years later, that I would still be living…

High Heeled Boots

High Heeled Boots Leatherneck Magazine Volume 45, Issue 2 Feb 1962 Author:  Clay Barrow   There are several striking differences between the Women Marines’ boot camp and the men’s ONE OF THE most widely circulated football stories relates that once when Knute Rockne’s “Fighting Irish” were trailing, he stayed out of the locker room throughout…

A Friendship Remembered

Remembering Col Julia Hamblet by Rhonda Amtower   It is with a heavy heart but with much pride and respect I write these farewell words to honor the memory of Colonel Julia E. Hamblet.  I had the distinct honor and privilege in getting to know her the last couple of years as we both lived…

Looking Back – Women Marines: 25th Anniversary

Women Marines: 25th Anniversary reprinted from the Marine Corps Gazette Vol 52 Issue 2 Author:  Pat Meid A time to reminisce but even more to look at a new generation of Women Marines making its own contributions, blazing new trails, and serving with distinction. ALTHOUGH women traditionally tend to be chary and somewhat imprecise when…

WWII Camp Lejeune Training

Marine Corps Women Reserves Training Camp Lejeune FREE A MARINE TO FIGHT: Women Marines in World War II by Colonel Mary V Stremlow, USMCR (Ret)   Planners originally thought to use existing Navy resources and facilities for all MCWR recruiting and training, but Marines soon saw the advantage of having their own schools. It wasn’t…

WWII Bernice Trotter

Bernice Trotter USMCWR By Tim Stanley Tulsa World After four years, Bernice Trotter had long since come to terms with the fact that her brother was gone. But as she stood there with her parents, watching his flag-draped casket being unloaded from the train, it felt almost like she was losing him all over again.…

Free A Man to Fight

Marine Corps Women Reserve Marine Base San Diego  1943-1946   By Rick Huenefeld and Barbara McCurtis   ‘Free a Man to Fight’ – the  call to arms in  February 1943 when the Women’s Reserve (WR) of the United States Marine Corps was activated.  The first WR reported to Marine Corps Base (MCB) San Diego in…

Portland 2016

Women Marines Association Bridge to the Future The 29th Biennial Women Marines Association (WMA) Convention and Professional Development Conference was held in Portland, OR. The theme, Bridge to the Future, highlighted the host city of Portland, Or., and the great strides women have made in the Corps in the past and our movement forward as…

Sgt Sylvia Applebaum Levy

Sgt Sylvia Applebaum Levy USMC 1943 -46 By Barbara Steever My mother was from Philadelphia,  stationed in San Diego and then sent to Pearl Harbor where she was in the radio corps.  To my knowledge, she was among the first group of women Marines to arrive there. The  photo below was actually a publicity shot taken when…