MY TWENTY YEARS BEFORE THE MAST

by Eileen Neiler Eileen A. Morgan Neiler born in East Conemaugh, Pennsylvania on 16 December 1923, the only child of John and Edna Morgan. Growing up during the Great Depression required moving many times as my father sought work. This sometimes meant spending only one year in any particular school. Most of my elementary school

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Posted in: Female Marine, Life After the Corps, veterans, WWIITagged in: , , ,

United States Marine Corps Women Reserves. USMCWR

2023 Anniversary of Continuous Service of Women Marines History of our Anniversary. (by Jeannine Franz and Gail Horn) By the WMA History Committee Happy anniversary lady leathernecks! Or, is it happy birthday?  This is a common debate, but the answer is simple. Every year, the Commandant of the Marine Corps writes a letter to women

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Posted in: Boot Camp, Female Marine, History, Marine Corps, Military, Training, USMC, Values, veterans, WMA History, Women Marines Association, WWII

80th Anniversary Message

Celebrating 80 years since the USMC Women Reserves 13 Feb 2380 years ago, the slogan “Free a Marine to Fight” drew 19,000 women to the USMC Women Reserves during World War II. Today we are approximately 18,000 strong. We have moved from performing mainly clerical positions to filling combat infantry MOS slots worldwide. Every generation

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

Our History – Our Service

By Rosa Osborn In 2010, as a warrant officer and several years in the Marine Corps, I thought I knew it all. I knew the history of the Marine Corps. We all do. I didn’t discover just how little I knew until 2010 while attending the WMA Convention in Denver. I was not only amazed

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Posted in: Afghanistan, Awards, Conflicts, Female Marine, History, Iraq, Korean, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, Values, veterans, Vietnam, WMA, WMA History, WWIITagged in: , , , , ,
Roberta “Randy” Tidmore

WMA Meet Our Member

Roberta “Randy” Tidmore Randy was one of 18,000 women who joined the Marines by that year. While comprising just 4 percent of the Marines, women worked as clerks, mechanics, and aerial gunnery instructors, among other jobs, and they helped pave the way for more than 1 million women who have since served in the U.S.

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Posted in: Awards, Female Marine, History, Life After the Corps, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, USMC, veterans, WMA, WMA Chapters, Women Marines Association, WWII

Corporal Germaine Laville

Corporal Germaine Laville   Laville lived in Plaquemine, La., graduated from LSU in 1942 with a bachelor’s degree in education and was a member of Chi Omega sorority. The oldest of seven children, she decided to represent her family in the World War II effort by enlisting in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in July,

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

Sgt Mary Frances Danaher Griggs WWII USMCWR

By Gary Griggs Mary Danaher was the oldest of 10 and born in St Joseph Mo on April 3, 1923. After High School she had a boyfriend and a good job. But when war broke out she felt someone in her family should represent the family in the war effort and with her brother not old enough she

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Posted in: Family, Female Marine, History, Life After the Corps, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, Training, USMC, WMA, Women Marines Association, WWIITagged in: ,

Dorothy Schmidt Cole, oldest living Marine, dies at 107

BY THÉODEN JANES JANUARY 13, 2021 05:33 PM, UPDATED JANUARY 14, 2021 02:34 P Dorothy “Dot” Cole, who enlisted as one of the earliest female Marine reservists in response to the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor and was widely celebrated around her birthday in September as the country’s oldest living Marine, died of a heart attack

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Posted in: Boot Camp, Family, Female Marine, History, Life After the Corps, Marine Corps, Military, USMC, WMA, Women Marines Association, WWII

Elizabeth Redfern Newberg USMCWR

Mrs Newburg is celebrating her 100th birthday and her family is requesting cards. Please join the Women Marines Association in wishing her a VERY happy 100th Birthday and thank her for her service. Elizabeth Redfern was born in Titus County shortly after the First World War. The family later moved to Marshall, where she attended

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Posted in: Family, History, Life After the Corps, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, USMC, Values, veterans, WMA, WWII

WINIFRED BAER HODGIN

WWII USMCWR By: Jon D, Hodgin  She was born Winifred Baer on a dairy farm near the small town of Callicoon, New York on August 13, 1922.  She graduated high school and then attended Albany State Teacher’s College, where she obtained a degree in education at the age of 19.  She taught high school for

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Posted in: Boot Camp, Conflicts, Female Marine, History, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, USMC, veterans, WMA, Women Marines Association, WWII

Marine Corps Women Reserves Camp Lejeune 1944

A Pictorial Yearbook These photos are from the Camp Lejeune Women Marines yearbook from 1944. The book belonged to Margaret Guntle Shelton. Known affectionately as Marge she was a charter member of OR-3. Debra Barker said Marge was well read and didn’t hesitate to give her opinion on issues she felt strongly about. Marge, it

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Posted in: Female Marine, History, Marine Corps, Military, USMC, WMA, Women Marines Association, WWII

Sgt Ursula Fortenbacher Oleksy 1923 – 2020

BY: Dave Olesky Ursula Oleksy, who passed away July 12, 2020 at the age of 97. She was born on April 3, 1923 in NYC. She enlisted in the Marine Corps on January 7, 1952 from NYC. She was stationed in both San Diego, CA as well as Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She was promoted to

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Posted in: Female Marine, History, Marine Corps, Military, Personal Stories, USMC, veterans, WMA, WWII