Essayist Cat Pleska remembers woman veteran

[thedrifter]

Essayist Cat Pleska remembers woman veteran

By Cat Pleska
Listen Now (6:00)

November 11, 2008

Not long ago, I met Betty, an energetic 83-year-old—still very much a Marine from World War II. When I visited Betty’s incredibly Spartan clean home, I noticed her car’s bumper sticker: The Few, The Proud, The Women Marines. It’s been 62 years since Betty distinguished herself in the military. She told me that the Marines gave her much more than she could have ever given back.



Through her, I learned 300 women first served as Marines in World War I. They were clerks, but appeared, as Betty put it studying a photograph of them—pretty tough. And inspirational. By 1942, our country’s involvement in WWII placed a strain on all our armed forces. In particular, the Marines were running out of men to send to battle. The call went out for a woman Marine to replace a Marine stateside so that he could fight. Resistance against women in the Marines was strong, but eventually FDR signed the bill that allowed women to join. They flowed into the ranks to perform over 200 different jobs.



Betty found boot camp no picnic just because she was a woman, nor were the female drill instructors easy on their ranks. She trained in motor transport and drove jeeps, trucks, and a combat vehicle called a 4x4. The women challenged themselves and each other by dropping their 4x4s into deep, muddy ditches and winching them out. Assigned to Quantico, Virginia, Betty drove workers to military owned gardens and tree farms, and occasionally served as a messenger.



At the end of the war, Betty was mustered out and the Women Marine Reserves was demobilized, though they officially became part of the Corps in 1948. Now, women in battle zones are common. Of course, women have always known they are capable warriors.



Whatever our stance on war, we have people in this country who believe that by entering the military they can protect and maintain the security of our freedoms. Many have sacrificed a great deal. In thinking about Betty, I respect her honesty, her clarity of purpose, and her willingness to sacrifice self for the greater good. And frankly, that’s the signature of heroes. I’m sure Betty wouldn’t agree—she’s too humble. She may be proud to have served in the Marines, but that has to do with self-respect. A good warrior knows that the last thing needed in battle or in service is an ego.



Betty giggled like a school girl when she told me her military stories. I could envision her, astraddle her 4x4, goading her fellow Marines to best her in the contest, mud spraying out as the wheels spun, seeking purchase in the mud. But her strongest memory was that in WWII the Women Marines were there specifically to replace a male Marine to fight. It burdened them that those men being sent to battle might not return. So it was up to them to serve ably and with honor. Betty did and remains an inspiration to us all.

Ellie