MollyMarine

Molly Marines P Co 11Sept2013 The city of New Orleans dedicated the first United States monument of a woman in service uniform: “Molly Marine” on 10Nov, 1943.  A local recruiter commissioned the statue to help recruit women during World War II. For female Marines around the world, Molly has come to represent the countless significant

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Posted in: Awards, Boot Camp, Female Marine, Marine Corps, Military, Molly Marines, WMA, Women Marines Association

Christmas Holiday Memories of Women Marines

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all! Today, we have a nice cornicopia for you.  Memories from Women Marines of various decades, photos, vintage postcards, as well as a special carol written by a Woman Marine while she was on the Drill Field in 1993! We’ll start this ‘party’ with the carol:  The 12 Days of Boot

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Posted in: Boot Camp, Family, Female Marine, History, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, USMC, Values, WMA

Eugenia Lejeune ~ Marine and Archivist

Eugenia Lejeune Marine and Archivist By Sabrina Messenger When one “googles’ for information on Eugenia Lejeune, Major, USMCR, most of what one finds defaults back to her illustrious father, General John Archer Lejeune.  I have a feel she would’ve wanted it that way. I’m of the impression that Eugenia was perfectly happy not being in

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Posted in: Family, Female Marine, History, Marine Corps, Military, USMC, veterans, WWIITagged in: , ,

By ‘Popular Demand’…an interview with Virginia Bueno.

By ‘Popular Demand’…an interview with Virginia Bueno.   By Sabrina M Messenger During the summer of 2013, the question was put forth to members of the Women Marines association, “If you could ask one of our women Marines about her life, who would you ask and what would you want to know?” The name that

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Posted in: Female Marine, History, Life After the Corps, Marine Corps, Membership, Military, Personal Stories, Professional Development, Training, USMC, Values, veterans, WMA, Women Marines AssociationTagged in: , , ,

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage

 Celebrating Hispanic Heritage  By Sabrina Messenger    In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month which is observed each year from September 15 through October 15, I will be offering several in-depth interviews from some of our members of WMA who are of Hispanic/Latina descent. But first a bit of background information on Hispanics in the United

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Posted in: Afghanistan, Conflicts, Female Marine, History, Iraq, Korean, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, Professional Development, USMC, veterans, WMA, Women Marines Association, WWIITagged in: , , , , ,

Women Marine Rifle Qualification in 1978

Women Marine Rifle Qualification in 1978 By Corrina Martell Several years before women recruits began qualifying on the M16A1 rifle in Marine Corps boot camp, many women Marines were already qualifying on the M16A1 rifle in the fleet. In late November and early December of 1978, I was part of a detail of about 50 women

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Posted in: Female Marine, History, Marine Corps, Marksmanship, Military, Personal Stories, Training, USMC, veteransTagged in: , , ,

Women Marines Reserve Band

Women Marines Reserve Band by Colonel Mary V Stremlow, USMCR (Ret) Probably the most colorful of all the Women’s Reserve units was the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve Band formed in November 1943 by Captain William F. Santelmann and trained by members of the Marine Band. Prominent music schools and colleges were canvassed for candidates and

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Posted in: Female Marine, veterans, Women of the Corps History Project, WWIITagged in: , , ,

The History of Operation Caring Friends

Operation Caring Friends (OCF) was started in 2002 as a way to send our servicemen and women “a taste of home”.  Its main focus has been to take care of those who get little or no support from home.Mary and Jeff Merritt first started this venture a few boxes at a time when few were

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Posted in: Afghanistan, Conflicts, Events, Female Engagement Teams, Female Marine, Iraq, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, USMC, Values, Women Serving in CombatTagged in: , , , , ,

E. Louise Stewart, MCWR

Who’s that pretty lady on the magazine cover? By Sabrina Messenger You may recognize this highly glamorized iconic picture on the cover of the May 1943 issue of a popular general interest magazine of the time called Collier’s.  Her face shows up on a lot of USMC related merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs, and computer mousepads. 

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Posted in: Female Marine, History, Marine Corps, Military, USMC, Women of the Corps History Project, WWII

The History of the Women Marines Association

In the upcoming weeks we will go over the history of the Women Marines Association. The book was compiled by the WMA National Historian, Nancy Wilt in honor of the 50th anniversary of our Association in Denver in 2010. We start with a greeting written by Col Julia Hamblet Greeting from Colonel Julia E. Hamblet,

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Posted in: Female Marine, History, Military, USMC, Values, veterans, WMA, WMA History, Women Marines Association, Women of the Corps History Project

Rooted in Service

By Sharon Tutt My family background has military roots that span as far back as World War I. My maternal grandfather, L. W. Knox, served in the Army in France for three years. Three of his sons joined the military during World War II; Uncle Curtis served in the Army and was stationed in the

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Posted in: Female Marine, History, Life After the Corps, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, Professional Development, Training, USMC, Values, veterans, Women of the Corps History ProjectTagged in: ,

An Affair With Image Development

By Marine Cpl Sabrina (Williams) Messenger On the surface, I didn’t appear to be different from my peers. However, while most of them were content to simply meet Mr. Right, fall in love, and become wives and mothers, I knew I wanted something different. Something really special! Well the day came when I, too, fell

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Posted in: Boot Camp, Female Marine, Life After the Corps, Personal Stories, Training, USMC, WMATagged in: , , , , , , , , ,