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$Unique_ID{bob01110}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{(A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977
Chapter 4: Part 1}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Stremlow, Col. Mary V.}
$Affiliation{U.S. Marine Corps Reserve}
$Subject{platoon
first
women
lieutenant
reserve
wr
marine
captain
corps
battalion}
$Date{1986}
$Log{}
Title:       (A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977
Author:      Stremlow, Col. Mary V.
Affiliation: U.S. Marine Corps Reserve
Date:        1986

Chapter 4: Part 1

The Korean War Years

Organized Reserve Gets Underway

     Of equal importance to the integration of women into the regular service
was the development of a strong women's Reserve.  During the early phases of
planning, in 1946-47, Colonel Pate, Director, Division of Reserve, was a
strong advocate of Organized Reserve units for women.  He frequently found
himself defending this relatively unpopular idea - an idea unique to the
Marine Corps.  Senior Marines at Headquarters recognized the need for a
women's Reserve, but Marines, by and large, shuddered at the thought of this
female intrusion.  Little by little, the concept gained wider acceptance
especially when it was considered as an alternative to women Regulars.  It
effectively solved the problem of maintaining the affiliation of the WRs and
of training a group who would eventually take their place.

     Until February 1949, the Division of Reserve still thought in terms of 30
women's companies with a total strength of 60 officers and 1,500 enlisted
women, but in reviewing the Marine Corps budget for fiscal year 1950, the
Bureau of the Budget reduced the estimate and eliminated the provisions for
drill pay for organized women's companies.  The Division of Plans and Policies
reexamined the location of existing organized units with the purpose of
determining those in which women's detachments could readily be justified.
Based upon the premise that any locality in which 500 or more enlisted
personnel were administered would justify a women's Reserve detachment, the
study recommended the activation of 30 women's platoons.  By March, the
plans were finally approved for 15 platoons of two officers and 50 enlisted
women each.  Major Hamblet and Lieutenant Hale studied the case files of
former WRs and made projected plans based on the size of existing male Reserve
units, the geographic concentration of WR veterans, and upon available
training facilities.  In the end, they settled on the seven most promising
locations in which to begin: Kansas City; Boston; Los Angeles; New York;
Philadelphia; San Francisco; and Seattle.

     A mix of Regular and Reserve officers on continuous active duty would
administer the program.  Women were needed to serve as Inspector-Instructor
for each planned unit and for duty in the various Reserve District offices to
give overall supervision to women's matters. Accordingly, a board was convened
in March and the following selections were made for Inspector-Instructors:
Captain Shirley J. Fuetsch, Los Angeles; Captain Helen A. Wilson,
Philadelphia; First Lieutenant Frances M. Exum, Seattle; First Lieutenant Mary
C. MacDonald, New York; and First Lieutenant Kathryiri E. Snyder, San
Francisco.  For duty in Reserve District offices, the following officers:
Captain Constance Risegari-Gai, Boston; Captain Barbara Somers, New York;
First Lieutenant Dolores L. Dubinsky, Philadelphia; First Lieutenant Lucille
M. Olsen, Washington, D.C.; First Lieutenant Annie V. Bean, New Orleans; First
Lieutenant Mary E. Roddy, Chicago; Fint Lieutenant Elva B. Chaffer, Los
Angeles; First Lieutenant Beatrice R. Strong, San Francisco; First lieutenant
Mildred N. Cooke, Seattle; and First Lieutenant Mary W. Frazer, Atlanta.

Mission and Administration

     Reserve Memorandum 15-49 of 14 March 1949 published the specifics of
administration and training of the women's portion of the Organized Reserve.
The mission of these units was to provide individual women trained to meet
mobilization needs of the Marine Corps.  They were not classified by specialty
as the male Reserve units were or as post-Korea women Reserve platoons would
be.  Designated women's Reserve platoons (WR platoons), they were attached
directly to the major parent male unit as an organic element (e.g., WR
Platoon, 11th Infantry Battalion) and not to any subunit.  Inasmuch as the
women were neither assigned to, nor trained for, combat duties, they were
grouped into five subdivisions under Reserve Class VI in order to permit
immediate distinction between men and women in case of mobilization.

     The male Inspector-Instructor staff was augmented by one woman officer,
designated an assistant I&I, and one or two enlisted women who administered
the WR platoon.  The platoon was under the direct command of the commanding
officer, a platoon leader, and a platoon officer.  In many ways the platoon
was autonomous since the platoon leader was responsible for recruiting,
administration, training, rank distribution, and the mobilization state of
readiness of her platoon.  Furthermore, she was directed to render
administrative assistance to the male unit to compensate for the increased
workload caused by the existence of the WR platoon.  Very often, however, the
women actually took over much of the parent unit's administration.

     The WR platoons held weekly two-hour training periods during which their
time was divided between formal classes, basic military indoctrination courses
for the nonveterans, and specialist training classes in subjects like
administration, disbursing, or training aids depending upon the background of
the members, and giving clerical assistance to the male unit.  It was expected
that the basic course, closely resembling recruit training, and consisting of
classes in drill, military customs and courtesies, history of the Marine
Corps, naval law, interior guard duty, first aid, defense against chemical
attack, uniform regulations, and current events would take about two years to
complete.

     Officers were procured only from among former WR officers and successful
graduates of the WOTC at Quantico.  Enlisted members were recruited from among
WRs, women veterans of the Armed Forces, and nonveterans who met the
qualifications.  For veterans, the age limits specified that all previous
active military service plus all inactive service in the Reserve must, when
deducted from their actual age, equal 32 or less.  Aspiring Reservists with no
prior service had somewhat less stringent requirements than women being
recruited for active duty: age, 18- 31; and education, high school graduate,
or high school student and pass the equivalency test.  Regular recruits, on
the other hand, had to be 20 years old and high school graduates.

     To complete the organization, the Division of Reserve requested that WAVE
pharmacist mates be included in the naval personnel allowance for those units
which had a WR platoon.  The decision was approved in the interest of public
opinion, as well as health and accident security.

The First Seven WR Platoons

     The first WR platoon was activated on 14 April 1949 at Kansas City,
Missouri.  A Regular officer, First Lieutenant Ben Alice Day, was appointed
Assistant I&I of the 5th 105mm Howitzer Battalion, USMCR, and Major Helen T.
Chambers was assigned platoon leader.  In a very short time the platoon was up
to its authorized strength.

     First Lieutenant Pauline "Polly" F. Riley, Irish and from Maine, was sent
to Boston to activate the second WR platoon.  Lieutenant Riley, formerly
enlisted, was a member of the last WR officer candidate class in 1945.  The
class was made up entirely of enlisted WRs, and when World War II was declared
over about a week before commissioning, the students were given three options:
return to enlisted status, take a discharge if they had the required points,
or accept the commission and remain on active duty for one year.  Most of the
candidates took the discharge or returned to enlisted status, but Lieutenant
Riley was commissioned in August 1945 and served at Headquarters until 1947 on
the Postwar Personnel Reorganization Board.  She was released to inactive duty
when the board was terminated and later was among the first 20 Regular women
officers.

     With her New England background, it was logical to send Lieutenant Riley
to Boston, where the WR Platoon, 2d Infantry Battalion, USMCR, was established
on 22 April 1949 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Dugan and with
Lieutenant Carolyn Tenteris as the platoon officer.

     Former WRs Staff Sergeant Frances A. Curwen, Staff Sergeant Katherine
Keefe, Corporal Hazel A. Lindahl, and Corporal Dorothy M. Munroe were early
members of the Boston unit.  Among the nonveterans was Private Eleanor L.
Judge, who originally enlisted in the Reserve because she happened to be free
on Wednesday evenings, the women's scheduled drill night.  But that was only
the beginning; in 1977 with 27 years active service as a Regular, she
reenlisted for three more years.

     Sergeant Major Judge remembered that the women were "put through a pace."
There were classes to attend as well as battalion administrative work to be
done.  The non-veterans were not issued regulation shoes and they drilled in
their own civilian shoes which proved impractical and uncomfortable.  The
classes in naval law, taught by Sergeant Mary L. Attaya, a lawyer, were
complete with mock trials in which the women played active roles, and there
were Hollywood-made movies featuring the Marine Corps. For all of this, a
private was paid $2.50 per drill and a captain received $7.67.

     Captain Risegari-Gai, formerly the commanding officer of VTU 1-1(WR),
Boston, was not a member since she had been selected for a continuous active
duty billet in the office of the First Reserve District, which in those days
was located in the Fargo Building in Boston.  When Captain Risegari-Gai
reported for duty, Colonel George O. Van Orden, District Director, and a
Virginia gentleman, was quoted in the Boston newspaper as saying that his
first sergeant needed a week off to recuperate because he was, ". . . the
finest cussin gent yo'all ever did hear.  Had to pretty up his language,
though, with all these lady Marines around.  He's a beaten man."  The colonel,
himself, had never seen a woman Marine until he arrived in Boston, saw Captain
Risegari-Gai, and described himself as "thunderstruck."

     The next five platoons were organized by Reserve officers on continuous
active duty, and it was necessary for them to go to Washington for a briefing
before taking up their new duties.  Captain Helen A. Wilson was then sent to
Philadelphia where recruiting was simplified when the entire VTU under the
command of Captain Dorothy M. Knox transferred to the Organized Reserve.  The
unit became the WR platoon, 6th Infantry Battalion, USMCR, with Captain Knox
as platoon leader and First Lieutenant Emily Hornet as platoon officer.

     From Philadelphia, Captain Wilson kept Colonel Towle informed of the
platoon's progress and activities.  By Christmas of 1949, recruiting was so
successful that the unit was permitted to exceed its authorized strength by 10
percent.  When the male commanding officers of other battalions heard of this,
they were very much interested in receiving a similar authorization. The women
in Philadelphia formed a rifle team, and a bowling team, and even fielded a
team for a swim meet.

     In response to one of Captain Wilson's informal reports, Colonel Towle,
always conscious of the service woman's image, wrote:

I think you were wise to put a stop to post drill activities such as drinking
in bars while in uniform.  There is nothing intrinsically wrong, of course,
but the very fact that a woman is in uniform makes her liable to criticism
even though she is behaving herself in every respect.  As you say, Women
Marines have established a fine reputation and it would be most unfortunate to
have any criticism leveled at them, especially when we ourselves can do much
to prevent it.  I think you have shown excellent judgement in your decision.

     First Lieutenant Kathtyn E. Snyder, who had served at the Department of
the Pacific during World War II, was assigned as Assistant I&I, 12th Infantry
Battalion, Treasure Island, and together with the Reserve officers Lieutenants
Katherine W. Love and Marjorie J. Woolman, started San Francisco's WR platoon,
whose roster included Sergeant Alameda Blessing; Corporal Rosita A. Martinez,
who eventually integrated and retired as a master gunnery sergeant; and
Corporal Ouida Ctaddock, who also went Regular, and later became the Sergeant
Major of the Women Marines.

     Captain Shirley J. Fuetsch and First Lieutenant Frances M. Exum drove
west together and parted at Denver - Fuetsch to go to the 13th Infantry
Battalion, USMCR, in Los Angeles and Exum to go to the 11th Infantry
Battalion, USMCR, at Seattle.  In Los Angeles, two Reserve First Lieutenants,
Esther N. Gaffney and Christine S. Strain, took the reins of the WR platoon
while the Seattle unit was headed by Captain Nancy M. Roberts and First
Lieutenant Fern D. Anderson.

     First Lieutenant Mary C. MacDonald, who before the war had been personal
secretary to Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, was sent to New York to
activate the WR platoon, 1st Infantry Battalion, USMCR, at Fort Schuyler.
Captain Mildred Gannon and First Lieutenant Elizabeth Noble filled the two
Reserve officer billets.  Like Philadelphia, the Fort Schuyler platoon also
increased its strength to 55, but eventually the authorization was rescinded,
and the women had to "keep on their toes" to stay in.  Those with poor
attendance records were transferred involuntarily to the Inactive Reserve, and
the platoon maintained a waiting list of potential recruits.

Add Six More Platoons

     After the original seven platoons were well established, plans were
announced for an additional four.  On 15 October 1949, WR platoons were
activated as elements of the 4th Infantry Battalion, Minneapolis; the 5th
Infantry Battalion, Washington, D.C.; and the 9th Infantry Battalion at
Chicago.  On 1 November, the fourth WR Platoon was activated at St. Louis as
part of the 3d Infantry Battalion.

     Chicago's WRs were led by First Lieutenant Genevieve M. Dooner who had
compiled quite a record as a volunteer recruiting officer in the postwar
years.  She was assisted by platoon officer Lieutenant Isabel F. Vosler and
I&I Lieutenant Dorothy Holmberg.

     First Lieutenant Elaine T. Carville, although of French background and
from Louisiana, was ordered to Minneapolis because "she looked like a Swede."
A Reserve officer on extended active duty, she activated the WR Platoon, 4th
Infantry Battalion, USMCR, which came under the leadership of First Lieutenant
Ardath Bietlein and Second Lieutenant Phyllis Davis.  Well known for her
enthusiasm and esprit de corps, Lieutenant Carville soon had a unit made up of
10 former WIIs, 37 non-veterans, 2 ex-WAVES, and 1 ex-SPAR.  Minneapolis-St.
Paul had been chosen for a WR platoon from among a number of cities which had
asked for one.  The large number of wartime WRs from Minnesota plus the
personal interest in the project displayed by Lieutenant Colonel Emmet O.
Swanson, commanding officer of the 4th Battalion, combined to bring the unit
to the "Twin Cities."

     When plans for the platoon were first announced, 250 inquiries flooded
the Reserve office at Wold Chamberlain Naval Air Station. Lieutenant Carville
personally interviewed 150 applicants.  The first group of 45 selectees was
sworn in on 2 November 1949 by Brigadier General Elmer H. Salzman in a
ceremony at the airfield.  Wartime WRs included Master Sergeant Cecilia
Nadeau, Staff Sergeant Lucille Almon, Staff Sergeant Leona Dickey, Ste
Sergeant Betty Guenther, Sergeant Gladyce Pederson, Sergeant Anna Homza,
Private First Class Betty Lemnke, Private First Class Grace Moak, Private
First Class Ruth Mortenson, and Private First Class Kathleen Schoenecket.
Among the nonveterans was Private Julia L. Bennke, who later went on to a full
active duty career and retired in 1970 as a master sergeant.

     Despite the commanding officer's enthusiasm for a WR platoon some members
of his staff were concerned at the changes it would bring. Reportedly,
Sergeant Major Thomas Polvogt said that on occasion he would issue rifles to
the women Marines so they would know what they were dealing in when they
handled records for M-1's issued to guards, but he was not going to be
responsible for powder puffs "or them other things they are going to issue."
Lieutenant Carville assured him that the women would be issued full Marine
Corps uniforms "from the skin out" and Sergeant Major Polvogt would not have
to worry about "them other things."

     Captain Jeanette Pearson, Assistant I&I of the 5th Infantry Battalion,
USMCR, Washington, D.C., activated that WR platoon with Major Mary L. Condon
as platoon leader and First Lieutenant Ethel D. Fritts as platoon officer.
Theresa "Sue" M. Sousa, later president of the Women Marines Association, was
an early member of that very active unit which met at 230 C Street, N.W.

     After the first WOTC, Captain Nita Bob Warner, selected for a three-year
active duty contract, left Quantico for a Headquarters Marine Corps briefing
before setting out for St. Louis to form the WR Platoon, 3d Infantry
Battalion, USMCR.  Officially activated on 1 November 1949, the unit received
a great deal of publicity.  On the night that enlistments opened, more than
100 applicants - one of whom was former WR Peggy Musselman, later assigned as
the platoon leader - came to the Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Training Center at
the foot of Ferry Street.  According to retired Lieutenant Colonel Warner,
this unit was supposed to be self-contained.  That meant they were to recruit
or train women to handle all matters of administration, supply, recruiting,
disbursing, or whatever else it took to run an efficient organization.

     Like the rest of the women Marine Reservists, those in St. Louis were
shod in civilian shoes of various shades of brown and tan - an intolerable
situation to Captain Warner.  She enlisted the help of Staff Sergeant Mabel
Otten, stationed at Headquarters Marine Corps, who sent a full case of
cordovan brown shoe dye to the WR platoon.  All 50 Reservists spent one drill
period outside the armory ". . . wielding a bottle of cordovan brown shoe dye
and shoe polish, dying their shoes dark brown and then learning how to give
them a Marine Corps spit shine."  When St. Louis saw its first women Marines,
a proud group, on 20 May 1950 in an Armed Forces Day parade, they were
stepping out in regulation cordovan brown shoes.

     As it turned out, the shoe color problem was mote easily solved than that
of providing the Reservists with summer uniforms.  There were none In the
summer of 1950, Headquarters allowed the platoon two weeks of active duty for
training at the armory, which they performed wearing the utility uniform - bib
overalls and white T-shirts - which Lieutenant Colonel Warner laughingly
recalls, ". . . made really quite a handsome outfit."

     February 1950 saw the formation of the last two WR platoons.  Second
Lieutenant Doris Kleberger left Quantico to become the Assistant I&I, 17th
Infantry Battalion, USMCR, Detroit, with Captain Cecelia Vanden Bossche as
the platoon leader.

     Captain Mary J. Hale went from Parris Island to Dallas where she served
as Assistant I&I, 23d 155mm Howitzer Battalion, USMCR.  She remembers that the
Marines, Regular and Reserve, were very proud of the preparations they had
made to welcome the WR platoon.  On the night of the open house, planned to
kick off the recruiting effort, Dallas was the scene of a "terrible ice
storm," but the Texans were undaunted and the unit was off to a good start.
Captain Hazel C. Tyler was platoon leader and First Lieutenant Grace E. Kathan
was platoon officer.  Captain Hale, scrupulous in her explanation to recruits
of a Reserve unit's mobilization potential, was asked by the I&I if she really
had to emphasize the point so strongly. Fortunately she continued to make an
issue of it because within six months mobilization became a fact.

Mobilization of Organized Reserve Units, Korea

     Within 15 months of the initiation of women into the Organized Reserve,
the value of the program was realized with the mobilization of all 13 WR
platoons.  Women, as a result of the Korean crisis, and for the first time in
American history, were called involuntarily to military service along with
men.  Mobilization of Reserves, including women veterans, was announced in
June 1950.

     Since a number of women Reservists had belonged to organized platoons for
only a few months, the term "veteran" was defined as women who had:

a) served 90 days or more on active duty with the Marine Corps, Marine Corps
Reserve: or

b) attended 36 drills as members of an organized platoon; or

c) attended 30 drills and 10 days active duty for training.

Those women who did not meet the criteria were classified as nonveterans,
transferred to the Volunteer Marine Corps Reserve, Class III, and directed to
await orders to recruit training at Parris Island.

     Unfortunately, the 3d Recruit Training Battalion had closed down for the
summer.  Recruiting was something of a disappointment and thus far, no women
recruit platoon had reached its authorized strength of 50.  That fact coupled
with the manner in which WOTC was organized - as a temporary unit established
anew each summer - led to the decision to terminate training at Parris Island
and to assign the staff to Quantico temporarily to conduct officer training.
Platoon 2A, graduating in May, was the last scheduled class until 18
September.  Three officers and seven enlisted women from the permanent staff
of 3d Recruit Training Battalion were temporarily reassigned to a subunit
activated at Quantico on 2 June.  The first group to leave Parris Island
included Captain Jeanette I. Sustad, Second Lieutenants Joan Morrissey and
Betty Preston, Technical Sergeant "A" Fern Schirmer, Staff Sergeant Bertha
Schultz, and Sergeants Rosa V. Harrington and Ruth Ryan.  Sergeants Grace M.
Karl and Agnes C. Thomas and Private First Class Allis V. Wall soon followed.
They were barely established in Virginia when the news of mobilization broke
and the urgent need for recruit training was realized, but it was too late to
change plans as WOTC would be without a staff.  So, when the WR platoons left
for military duty, the nonveterans stayed behind expecting orders to Parris
Island in early September.

     The women Reserve officers were not mobilized in order to maintain a
sufficient number of stateside billets to allow the rotation of male officers.
Before the plan was published, several officers gave notice to their employers
and prepared to leave for duty.  The decision to exclude WM officers caused a
morale problem at several levels of the women's Reserve program.  According to
retired Lieutenant Colonel Carville, Assistant I&I at Minneapolis at the time
of mobilization, "It was a terrible, terrible, terrible mistake!" The I&I
hated to tell Reserve officers, who, in turn were embarrassed in front of
their troops.  The enlisted women were at first apprehensive at the thought of
leaving without their own, familiar officers.  Later, some were even angrily
asking, "Why us, and not them?"

     The mobilization of the women caused by the conflict in Korea brought two
significant changes to the women Marine program: it enabled women Marines to
return to several duty stations, from which they had been absent during the
postwar years, and it enabled them to break out of the strictly administrative
mold into which they were cast after World War II. An analysis of tables of
organization indicated that 1,183 women Marines could be assigned immediately,
releasing an equal number of men according to the following distribution:

     Hq, Department of Pacific and Depot of Supplies, San Francisco . 172
     Marine Barracks and Marine Corps Supply Depot, Camp Pendleton  . 189
     Marine Barracks and Marine Corps Supply Depot, Camp Lejeune .  . 190
     Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  95
     Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 133
     Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 195
     Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  68
     Marine Corps Schools, Quantico.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 141

     Total  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  1,183

     The WR platoons with 25 officers and 594 enlisted women were up to 88.6
percent of their authorized strength.  To make up the difference and to fill
vacancies in critical specialties, an immediate call was made for veteran
volunteers in the following occupational fields:

     01 Personnel Administration
     15 Printing and Reproduction
     22 Fire Control Instrument Repair
     25 Operational Communications
     30 Supply Administration, Accounting and Stock Control
     31 Supply Procurement, Warehousing, Shipping, and Receiving
     34 Disbursing
     35 Motor Transport
     40 Machine Accounting
     41 Post Exchange
     43 Public Information
     46 Photography
     49 Training and Training Aids
     52 Special Services
     67 Air Control
     70 Aviation Operations and Intelligence