thedrifter
05-27-08, 09:40 AM
Serving part of female Marine's heritage
By Pamela Powers
Menomonie News Bureau
MENOMONIE - This Memorial Day, as she has for the past five years, Rosemarie Bristol will head to St. Paul's Luth-eran Cemetery in Menomonie.
There, her son, Sam, 18, will play taps for Bristol's deceas-ed brother, Jeff Cook, who was in the U.S. Navy, and her stepfather, Robert Schultz, as well as other veterans there. Schultz served in the U.S. Air Force.
"I'm proud because we are honoring family and other veterans there," Bristol, 47, said.
Bristol, a Menomonie native, believes in honor.
She joined the U.S. Marines in 1982, going to officer candidate school the summer of her junior year in college. She served in the Marines until January 1990.
"I wanted to teach, and I thought the military would be a good training ground for that," said Bristol, who also has a 16-year-old daughter, Cory.
She thought about joining the Navy, like three of her five brothers had done, but the Marines captivated her with their role in U.S. history during World War I and World War II. Bristol by that time had a history degree from UW-Eau Claire.
"They were considered elite," she said of the Marines. "I figured if I was going to join something I wanted the ultimate challenge. I wanted to be part of that tradition."
After graduating from college she entered a six-month basic training school in Virginia, where she learned to be a basic rifleman, a skill all Marines must learn. Her company had three male platoons and one female platoon.
"The women were running the same programs, but we had different physical fitness requirements," she noted.
For example women had to run a mile in 10 minutes; men had to run three miles in 21 minutes.
"Being a Marine changes your perception," Bristol said. "To Marines, honor, integrity, duty to country and service are deeply engraved. That's a good thing, I think."
At the time she joined, women accounted for only 8,000 of 180,000 Marines. About 700 women were officers. Bristol reached the rank of captain. There still are about 8,000 women Marines today, with about 750 of them being officers.
"Especially for Menomonie it was rare for anyone, particularly a woman, to join the military," she said. "I was definitely considered an oddity."
Dunn County Veterans Service Officer Duane Bauer said women have been serving in the armed forces since the Civil War, many not officially enlisted.
As a veterans service officer he noted that female veterans who have served in the past tend not to know they are entitled to the same benefits as their male counterparts.
"In the past decade and present time, it is a common occurrence for women to be active in the military, not only as enlisted active duty but as Guard and reservists," Bayer noted.
"Most female veterans of our present era do know that they are eligible for veteran benefits. Many seek out those benefits, yet there are a percentage of female veterans that hesitate to apply for these benefits that they feel are designed primarily for the male veterans."
While in the Marines, Bristol was an intelligence officer.
"I wanted to be a combat engineer," she said, noting women were not allowed to fill that occupation.
Combat engineers laid minefields, she noted, saying she was interested in that type of work.
Intelligence officers study political hot spots in the world and forecast scenarios if trouble erupts. At that time, she worked in Nicaragua and Guatemala. She was stationed in California.
She served her second tour of duty in Japan, focusing on Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
"In the '80s they called us women Marines," she recalled. "We hated that. We were Marines. The Iraq war blasted some of those stereotypes. Everyone has an equal opportunity for getting their backside blown away."
While in Japan she helped form the now-defunct 3rd Surveillance Reconnaissance Intelligence group. She was the first woman to lead a detachment into the Philippines. The group was there for about 45 days to provide intelligence support during the unrest after political leader Benigno Aquino was assassinated in 1983.
She led a detachment of about 45 Marines.
Bristol decided to leave the Marines to become a parent and raise her children. She is divorced from Col. George Bristol of Rhode Island, who is serving his fifth tour of duty in Iraq.
In retrospect, Bristol, who works for Diversified Mortgage Services and Diversified Real Estate, wished she would have stayed in the Marines.
"I regret it in terms of what I could have accomplished," she said but added she loves being a parent.
Female Marines
Women became part of the Marine Corps in June 1948, although women served in the Marine Reserves starting in 1918. Many served in clerical roles to free up men for field service in World War I.
Again in World War II, women were encouraged to serve to "free a man to fight," according to several Web sites on U.S. Marine history. Women reservists filled 200 positions, including radio operators, mechanics, mapmakers and welders.
In August 1950, women in the Marines first were mobilized for active duty in the Korean War.
Ellie
By Pamela Powers
Menomonie News Bureau
MENOMONIE - This Memorial Day, as she has for the past five years, Rosemarie Bristol will head to St. Paul's Luth-eran Cemetery in Menomonie.
There, her son, Sam, 18, will play taps for Bristol's deceas-ed brother, Jeff Cook, who was in the U.S. Navy, and her stepfather, Robert Schultz, as well as other veterans there. Schultz served in the U.S. Air Force.
"I'm proud because we are honoring family and other veterans there," Bristol, 47, said.
Bristol, a Menomonie native, believes in honor.
She joined the U.S. Marines in 1982, going to officer candidate school the summer of her junior year in college. She served in the Marines until January 1990.
"I wanted to teach, and I thought the military would be a good training ground for that," said Bristol, who also has a 16-year-old daughter, Cory.
She thought about joining the Navy, like three of her five brothers had done, but the Marines captivated her with their role in U.S. history during World War I and World War II. Bristol by that time had a history degree from UW-Eau Claire.
"They were considered elite," she said of the Marines. "I figured if I was going to join something I wanted the ultimate challenge. I wanted to be part of that tradition."
After graduating from college she entered a six-month basic training school in Virginia, where she learned to be a basic rifleman, a skill all Marines must learn. Her company had three male platoons and one female platoon.
"The women were running the same programs, but we had different physical fitness requirements," she noted.
For example women had to run a mile in 10 minutes; men had to run three miles in 21 minutes.
"Being a Marine changes your perception," Bristol said. "To Marines, honor, integrity, duty to country and service are deeply engraved. That's a good thing, I think."
At the time she joined, women accounted for only 8,000 of 180,000 Marines. About 700 women were officers. Bristol reached the rank of captain. There still are about 8,000 women Marines today, with about 750 of them being officers.
"Especially for Menomonie it was rare for anyone, particularly a woman, to join the military," she said. "I was definitely considered an oddity."
Dunn County Veterans Service Officer Duane Bauer said women have been serving in the armed forces since the Civil War, many not officially enlisted.
As a veterans service officer he noted that female veterans who have served in the past tend not to know they are entitled to the same benefits as their male counterparts.
"In the past decade and present time, it is a common occurrence for women to be active in the military, not only as enlisted active duty but as Guard and reservists," Bayer noted.
"Most female veterans of our present era do know that they are eligible for veteran benefits. Many seek out those benefits, yet there are a percentage of female veterans that hesitate to apply for these benefits that they feel are designed primarily for the male veterans."
While in the Marines, Bristol was an intelligence officer.
"I wanted to be a combat engineer," she said, noting women were not allowed to fill that occupation.
Combat engineers laid minefields, she noted, saying she was interested in that type of work.
Intelligence officers study political hot spots in the world and forecast scenarios if trouble erupts. At that time, she worked in Nicaragua and Guatemala. She was stationed in California.
She served her second tour of duty in Japan, focusing on Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
"In the '80s they called us women Marines," she recalled. "We hated that. We were Marines. The Iraq war blasted some of those stereotypes. Everyone has an equal opportunity for getting their backside blown away."
While in Japan she helped form the now-defunct 3rd Surveillance Reconnaissance Intelligence group. She was the first woman to lead a detachment into the Philippines. The group was there for about 45 days to provide intelligence support during the unrest after political leader Benigno Aquino was assassinated in 1983.
She led a detachment of about 45 Marines.
Bristol decided to leave the Marines to become a parent and raise her children. She is divorced from Col. George Bristol of Rhode Island, who is serving his fifth tour of duty in Iraq.
In retrospect, Bristol, who works for Diversified Mortgage Services and Diversified Real Estate, wished she would have stayed in the Marines.
"I regret it in terms of what I could have accomplished," she said but added she loves being a parent.
Female Marines
Women became part of the Marine Corps in June 1948, although women served in the Marine Reserves starting in 1918. Many served in clerical roles to free up men for field service in World War I.
Again in World War II, women were encouraged to serve to "free a man to fight," according to several Web sites on U.S. Marine history. Women reservists filled 200 positions, including radio operators, mechanics, mapmakers and welders.
In August 1950, women in the Marines first were mobilized for active duty in the Korean War.
Ellie