thedrifter
03-09-05, 08:22 AM
Female leathernecks celebrate storied history in the Corps
Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes
2d Marine Division
Ask any “Old Corps” Marine and they’ll tell you – the times they are a-changin’. The Marine Corps has undergone many changes since its conception in 1775, but perhaps none so controversial as the integration of women into its ranks.
It hasn’t been an easy road for women in the Marine Corps. From the first woman who served with a Marine unit – Lucy Brewer aboard the USS Constitution in 1812 - to the women who proudly serve today, many have had to prove themselves and change the opinions of those in the highest and lowest echelons of the Corps.
Many may be surprised to know the 17th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Lt. Gen. Thomas Holcomb, was against the formation of a Women’s Reserve in the Marine Corps. Although women had proudly served in the Corps since Holcomb was a lieutenant colonel in World War I, he was still against a permanent unit of women Marines. Less than a year after the Women Marines Reserve was officially formed he commented, “Like most other Marines, when the matter first came up, I didn’t believe women could serve any useful purpose in the Marine Corps … since then I’ve changed my mind.”
It was a shock to many men – and women – that the Corps was officially accepting the “fairer sex” into its ranks. In 1945, battle-hardened Marines who were captured by the enemy during World War II sought news from combat correspondents about what had been going on in the Marine Corps since their capture in the early days of the war. According to Lt. Col. Pat Meid, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, the first thing they had to say about the integration - “What! Women Marines! Quit your kidding.”
The appeal of using women Marines in active-duty billets during the world wars was too much for Marine commanders to pass up. When thousands of Marines were killed during beach landings, the Corps needed all the men it had on the front lines, yet there was still a need for clerical work to be done. The Marines fighting needed to be re-supplied, paid and have a stateside base which they could return to. This is where women like Mary A. Sabourin stepped in.
“I enlisted in 1945 and went to basic training on Camp Lejeune. We were always separate from the men. We were in special companies and battalions made up of women,” said Sabourin, an 82-year-old retired sergeant major.
“The enlistment age for females was even raised to 20 because they were seeking mature, professional women to fill their ranks,” she said.
Female Marines proved themselves in two world wars, performing more than 200 military assignments when Congress finally recognized their value to the armed forces. On June 12, 1948, congress passed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, allowing the armed services to accept women into their active-duty ranks.
Despite the prejudice from the highest and lowest ranks, the Corps has possibly made the largest leaps and bounds of the U.S. military’s history of integration. They were the last of the armed services to organize a women’s Reserve in World War II, yet the Corps is the first service to have a female general.
“Sometimes I would hear [male] Marines say women didn’t belong in the Corps. I’d tell them to talk to the commandant about it; it was his decision,” Sabourin said. She added, “I’d usually ignore men when they would say things to me about being a Marine, heck I’d ignore them altogether.”
The Corps’ perspective on what women should and shouldn’t do has also changed as well.
“Women have come a long way in the Corps. I remember hearing about how female Marine used to wear skirts and answer phones all day,” said Lance Cpl. Sarah D. Barnes an administration clerk with Headquarters Battalion, 2d Marine Division. The 20 year-old Batavia, Ohio native is among the nearly 10,700 women serving in the Marine Corps today. She added, “It’s great to see women doing things like working in supply warehouses and armories, jobs you’d normally associate with male Marines.”
When it comes to discrimination on or off-duty, Barnes said, “The rules are very strict about harassment and discrimination in the Marine Corps, maybe stricter than the rules in the civilian world.”
Women in today’s Corps are held to high standards but none so high as to be impossible.
“I’m sure many women think ‘this is too hard’ but I disagree. They do demand a lot from you physically but they don’t expect you to be like the men,” Barnes said. She added, “Job wise it’s no different between men and women. (The Marine Corps) expects the same professionalism and quality of work whether you’re male or female.”
As the war on terror progresses, women are finding themselves in situations unheard of just half a century ago – in combat.
“The whole outlook of war has changed. You can’t keep women from combat because they’re doing their job and can be hurt the same as the men,” Sabourin said. She added, “War is different now from when we were landing on Guadalcanal. Women are exposed to combat and they’ve proven themselves capable.”
Although many military occupational specialties that deal with ground combat have remained closed to women, it hasn’t stopped them from performing in battle. Many convoys and military bases have been attacked where women were called upon to defend themselves, and it doesn’t look like that is going to change anytime soon.
Sabourin said it best when she commented on the difference between male and female Marines. “… it wasn’t male or female with me, it was just Marine.”
LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT FEMALE MARINES:
Women’s existence as Marines in the Corps has been in jeapordy not once, but twice. The first was in 1919 when all women were ordered to separate from the Corps. The second was a demobilization of the Women’s Reserve after World War II. It took an act of congress to ensure women’s roles in the Armed Forces.
The majority of recruit training was completed at Camp Lejeune until the 4th Recruit Training Battalion was established at Parris Island, S.C.
Women with children under 18 years old were not allowed to enlist.
Women could not be married or marry a Marine while enlisted.
The minimum height requirement for women was 5 feet Women could not weigh less than 95 pounds Female enlistees must have had good vision – and teeth
They must have had at least two years of high school, although many of the first female Marines were college graduates.
Women could constitute no more than two percent of the total force of their service
Promotions were not available above the rank of captain.
Ellie
Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes
2d Marine Division
Ask any “Old Corps” Marine and they’ll tell you – the times they are a-changin’. The Marine Corps has undergone many changes since its conception in 1775, but perhaps none so controversial as the integration of women into its ranks.
It hasn’t been an easy road for women in the Marine Corps. From the first woman who served with a Marine unit – Lucy Brewer aboard the USS Constitution in 1812 - to the women who proudly serve today, many have had to prove themselves and change the opinions of those in the highest and lowest echelons of the Corps.
Many may be surprised to know the 17th Commandant of the Marine Corps, Lt. Gen. Thomas Holcomb, was against the formation of a Women’s Reserve in the Marine Corps. Although women had proudly served in the Corps since Holcomb was a lieutenant colonel in World War I, he was still against a permanent unit of women Marines. Less than a year after the Women Marines Reserve was officially formed he commented, “Like most other Marines, when the matter first came up, I didn’t believe women could serve any useful purpose in the Marine Corps … since then I’ve changed my mind.”
It was a shock to many men – and women – that the Corps was officially accepting the “fairer sex” into its ranks. In 1945, battle-hardened Marines who were captured by the enemy during World War II sought news from combat correspondents about what had been going on in the Marine Corps since their capture in the early days of the war. According to Lt. Col. Pat Meid, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, the first thing they had to say about the integration - “What! Women Marines! Quit your kidding.”
The appeal of using women Marines in active-duty billets during the world wars was too much for Marine commanders to pass up. When thousands of Marines were killed during beach landings, the Corps needed all the men it had on the front lines, yet there was still a need for clerical work to be done. The Marines fighting needed to be re-supplied, paid and have a stateside base which they could return to. This is where women like Mary A. Sabourin stepped in.
“I enlisted in 1945 and went to basic training on Camp Lejeune. We were always separate from the men. We were in special companies and battalions made up of women,” said Sabourin, an 82-year-old retired sergeant major.
“The enlistment age for females was even raised to 20 because they were seeking mature, professional women to fill their ranks,” she said.
Female Marines proved themselves in two world wars, performing more than 200 military assignments when Congress finally recognized their value to the armed forces. On June 12, 1948, congress passed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, allowing the armed services to accept women into their active-duty ranks.
Despite the prejudice from the highest and lowest ranks, the Corps has possibly made the largest leaps and bounds of the U.S. military’s history of integration. They were the last of the armed services to organize a women’s Reserve in World War II, yet the Corps is the first service to have a female general.
“Sometimes I would hear [male] Marines say women didn’t belong in the Corps. I’d tell them to talk to the commandant about it; it was his decision,” Sabourin said. She added, “I’d usually ignore men when they would say things to me about being a Marine, heck I’d ignore them altogether.”
The Corps’ perspective on what women should and shouldn’t do has also changed as well.
“Women have come a long way in the Corps. I remember hearing about how female Marine used to wear skirts and answer phones all day,” said Lance Cpl. Sarah D. Barnes an administration clerk with Headquarters Battalion, 2d Marine Division. The 20 year-old Batavia, Ohio native is among the nearly 10,700 women serving in the Marine Corps today. She added, “It’s great to see women doing things like working in supply warehouses and armories, jobs you’d normally associate with male Marines.”
When it comes to discrimination on or off-duty, Barnes said, “The rules are very strict about harassment and discrimination in the Marine Corps, maybe stricter than the rules in the civilian world.”
Women in today’s Corps are held to high standards but none so high as to be impossible.
“I’m sure many women think ‘this is too hard’ but I disagree. They do demand a lot from you physically but they don’t expect you to be like the men,” Barnes said. She added, “Job wise it’s no different between men and women. (The Marine Corps) expects the same professionalism and quality of work whether you’re male or female.”
As the war on terror progresses, women are finding themselves in situations unheard of just half a century ago – in combat.
“The whole outlook of war has changed. You can’t keep women from combat because they’re doing their job and can be hurt the same as the men,” Sabourin said. She added, “War is different now from when we were landing on Guadalcanal. Women are exposed to combat and they’ve proven themselves capable.”
Although many military occupational specialties that deal with ground combat have remained closed to women, it hasn’t stopped them from performing in battle. Many convoys and military bases have been attacked where women were called upon to defend themselves, and it doesn’t look like that is going to change anytime soon.
Sabourin said it best when she commented on the difference between male and female Marines. “… it wasn’t male or female with me, it was just Marine.”
LITTLE-KNOWN HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT FEMALE MARINES:
Women’s existence as Marines in the Corps has been in jeapordy not once, but twice. The first was in 1919 when all women were ordered to separate from the Corps. The second was a demobilization of the Women’s Reserve after World War II. It took an act of congress to ensure women’s roles in the Armed Forces.
The majority of recruit training was completed at Camp Lejeune until the 4th Recruit Training Battalion was established at Parris Island, S.C.
Women with children under 18 years old were not allowed to enlist.
Women could not be married or marry a Marine while enlisted.
The minimum height requirement for women was 5 feet Women could not weigh less than 95 pounds Female enlistees must have had good vision – and teeth
They must have had at least two years of high school, although many of the first female Marines were college graduates.
Women could constitute no more than two percent of the total force of their service
Promotions were not available above the rank of captain.
Ellie