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$Unique_ID{bob01127}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{(A) History Of The Women Marines 1946-1977
Chapter 17}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Stremlow, Col. Mary V.}
$Affiliation{U.S. Marine Corps Reserve}
$Subject{marine
colonel
women
corps
officer
marines
director
woman
reserve
headquarters}
$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 17

The Directors of Women Marines

Colonel Katherine A. Towle

     Originally of Vermont stock, Colonel Katherine Amelia Towle was born in
Towle, California, a lumber mill hamlet in the Sierras founded by her
grandfather.  She earned her bachelor's degree in 1920 at the University of
California at Berkeley with honors in political science and received her
master's degree there in 1935.  Prior to 13 February 1943, she had served
successively as an assistant in the admissions office at the University of
California; resident dean and headmistress of Miss Ronsom and Miss Bridges
School for Girls at Piedmont, California; a teaching fellow in political
science at the University of California; and senior editor of the University
of California Press.

     On 15 March 1943, she accepted an appointment as captain in the Marine
Corps Reserve with rank as of 24 February.  Having never attended basic
training of any sort, Colonel Towle in later years laughingly remarked that
she was not even a 90-day wonder.  After six days of indoctrination with the
Division of Reserve at Headquarters Marine Corps, Captain Towle was assigned
as a staff officer (WR) with the Training Brigade, Marine Training Detachment,
U.S. Naval Training School, Bronx, New York.

     When the WR battalion was established at Camp Lejeune in June 1943, she
was transferred there and became the senior Marine Corps Women's Reserve
School officer and assistant executive officer.  In that position, she was
promoted to major on 2 February 1944, and in September of that year she became
Colonel Streeter's assistant at Headquarters Marine Corps.

     She remained at Headquarters, was appointed a lieutenant colonel on 15
March 1945, and succeeded Colonel Streeter as Director nine months later on 8
December.  A colonel by virtue of her billet, she spent her remaining months
in the Marine Corps directing the demobilization of the women Reservists and
laying plans and policies for a postwar Marine Corps Women's Reserve. On 14
June 1946, certain that all World War II WRs would be released within a few
months, Colonel Towle returned to the Berkeley campus as assistant dean of
women.  For her meritorious wartime service, she carried with her the Letter
of Commendation with ribbon by the Secretary of Navy and a letter of
appreciation from General Alexander A. Vandegrift, the Commandant of the
Marine Corps.

     When Congress provided for Regular components of women in the Armed
Forces, General Clifton B. Cates, then Commandant, asked Colonel Towle to
direct the new Regular Women Marines.  She returned to Washington as one of
the first 20 women Regular officers and became the first Director of Women
Marines.

     Recruit and officer training programs were organized and a gradual
buildup of women in the Regular Marine Corps began.  At the same time, 13
women's platoons were established in the Marine Corps Organized Reserve.
Colonel Towle was particularly proud of the response of these women and the
low percentage of deferments among women Reservists upon mobilization in 1950.
Following the Korean War the Reserve units were reorganized, this time with a
total of 19 platoons.

     As an educator, Colonel Towle recognized the value of formal training and
continually worked for increased school opportunities for WMs.  Her national
stature in the academic community enhanced the prestige of the women Marines
and contributed to her success in gaining access to colleges and universities
to recruit women officers.  Among her honors is the Doctor of Laws conferred
on her by Mills College in June 1952.

     The Oakland Tribune said of her, "Behind the formidably admirable public
record is one of the most charming women in the world."  Colonel Towle, a lady
of style and grace who loved feminine hats, was a paradox in the overtly
masculine Marine Corps.  Yet, in the opinion of Colonel Hamblet, "She was the
perfect one for the job at the time."  She had made her reputation as an able
administrator and commander in World War II.  She was firm but never
aggressive and won the respect of Marines - irrespective of their personal
views of women in military service.

     To a newsman's question regarding the acceptance of women in the Marine
Corps by senior officers, Colonel Towle frankly answered that there were
varying degrees of enthusiasm but with one or two exceptions the feminine
presence had been taken with good grace.  The day after the interview was
published nearly every general officer at Headquarters stopped by her office,
poked in his head, and asked, "You didn't mean me, did you, Colonel?"  The
Colonel replied, "Oh no, sir, of course not," but by the end of the day
neither she nor her administrative assistant, Lieutenant Colonel Kleberger,
could keep a straight face as the parade by her office continued.

     On 1 May 1952, Colonel Towle was retired under the statutory age
provision of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 which required
retirement for colonels at age 55.  A special sunset parade had been held in
her honor the evening before at the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., and
for the first time in the history of the famous barracks, a platoon of women
Marines joined the contingent of Marines who passed in review.  Upon
retirement, the colonel was awarded a Letter of Commendation from the
Commandant of the Marine Corps and a Legion of Merit from the President of the
United States.

Colonel Julia E. Hamblet

     The third Director of the Marine Corps Women's Reserve and the second
Director of Women Marines was Colonel Julia Estelle Hamblet, called Judy by
her friends.  Born in Winchester, Massachusetts, Colonel Hamblet attended the
Hartridge School in Plainfield, New Jersey, and graduated from Vassar College
in 1937 with a bachelor of arts degree.  The first woman Marine to be afforded
the opportunity to attend graduate school while on active duty, she earned a
master of science degree in public administration at Ohio State University in
1951.  Appropriately, her thesis was entitled, "The Utilization of Women in
the Marine Corps."

     Colonel Hamblet worked for the U.S. Information Service in Washington,
D.C., from 1937 until 1943 when she became the first woman from the nation's
capital to join the Marine Corps.  Her motive for entering military service,
like thousands of Americans during those critical days, was a patriotic desire
to do her part.  Her reason for choosing the Marine Corps was less noble; with
one brother in the Army and another in the Navy, she wanted to remain
impartial.

     Graduating from the first woman officer training class on 4 May 1943,
she, along with several of her classmates, was commissioned a first
lieutenant.  Captain Towle, then senior woman officer on the staff at the
Marine Corps Training Detachment in the Bronx, personally selected Lieutenant
Hamblet to fill the billet of adjutant of that unit.  She served in that post
at Hunter College and later at Camp Lejeune when the Women's Reserve schools
were transferred there in July 1943.  Her subsequent tours during World War II
included six months with the Marine Corps Women's Reserve Battalion at Camp
Lejeune, first as adjutant and then as executive officer; adjutant and
executive officer, Women's Reserve Battalion, Camp Pendleton; commanding
officer, Women's Reserve Battalion, Quantico; assistant for the Women's
Reserve on the staff of the commanding general at Quantico; and finally
commanding officer, Aviation Women's Reserve Group 1, Cherry Point.  For her
services during World War II, she was awarded a letter of commendation.

     In a distinguished career marked by numerous achievements, one stands out
as having the most direct impact on the entire Marine Corps.  As a major and
the Director of the postwar Women's Reserve, 1946-1948, she was responsible
for maintaining the interest of the WRs during those critical years and for
organizing the WR platoons, all of which were ready when the Korean War
erupted. The year of graduate work was followed by a tour of duty in Honolulu
as the assistant G-1, FMFPac.  Lieutenant Colonel Hamblet was the first WM to
return to Hawaii since the departure of the WRs in 1946.  In less than a year,
she was assigned as officer in charge of the Women Officer Training Detachment
at Quantico.

     On 1 May 1953, she assumed the position of the second Director of Women
Marines, again succeeding Colonel Towle, who was retiring.  Only 37 years old,
she was the youngest director of women in the armed services. Colonel Towle,
in praising her successor said, "She has had practically every type of duty a
woman Marine officer can have.  I have followed her military career since her
assignment as my adjutant.  She has brains, ability, personality, and looks."
Colonel Hamblet held the post of Director until March 1959, longer than any
other woman.

     Legal provisions at the time prohibited women, other than the Director,
to serve in the tank of colonel, so Colonel Hamblet reverted to her permanent
rank of lieutenant colonel and was then transferred to Naples, Italy, where
she served as military secretary to the Commander in Chief, Allied Forces,
Southern Europe.  Before leaving, her friends feted her with a "demotion"
party which featured a large cake decorated with an eagle flying away.

     Lieutenant Colonel Hamblet, uncommonly attractive and poised, became a
favorite among the servicewomen at Naples.  When the enlisted women gave a New
Year's party in 1961 to which many officers, American and foreign, were
invited, she was the only woman officer to accept.  "In fact," said Sergeant
Major Judge, a WM in Naples at the time, "she was the only woman officer to
give us the time of day.  She was so gracious; she didn't just come to say
hello, she stayed and had a good time.  No one forgot that.  It was mentioned
for a long time by the WAVEs and the WACs."  In April 1962, Lieutenant Colonel
Hamblet was transferred to Parris Island, where she was commanding officer,
Woman Recruit Training Battalion, until her retirement on 1 May 1965.  Colonel
Hamblet was awarded the Legion of Merit and according to regulations, upon
retirement she was reappointed to the rank of colonel, the highest rank in
which she served.

Colonel Margaret M. Henderson

     Colonel Margaret Henderson became the fourth Director of Women Marines on
2 March 1959, succeeding Colonel Hamblet.  Born in Cameron, Texas, Colonel
Henderson earned a bachelor of business administration degree from the
University of Texas in 1932 and taught in the secondary schools of Lubbock,
Texas, before her enlistment in the Marine Corps in 1943.

     After completing the Marine Corps Women's Reserve Officer Training School
at Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts, she was commissioned a second lieutenant in
the Reserve on 29 June 1943.  Lieutenant Henderson began her career as a
general subjects instructor at the Marine Corps Women's Reserve Schools at
Camp Lejeune and was later assigned as officer in charge of the Business
School, Marine Corps Institute, Washington, D.C.  In later years, Colonel
Streeter wrote:

As this was a teaching job, it was natural enough for her to be assigned to
it; but it soon became evident that her capacity was far greater than this job
would give her opportunity to develop.  Unfortunately, she was doing it so
well that her Commanding Officer would not let her be transferred!  Willie and
I put our heads together and she finally wheedled him into letting Margaret go
to a better job, where she promptly showed her fine qualities.

     The "better job" was that of executive officer, Marine Corps Women's
Reserve Battalion, Camp Lejeune.  On 14 June 1946, Captain Henderson was
released from active duty.

     She went home to Lubbock where she taught at Texas Technological College
for two years.  Selected to be one of the first 20 Regular woman Marine
officers, Captain Henderson returned to the Marine Corps in December 1948.

     Her academic and professional background made her the obvious choice to
head the embryonic 3rd Recruit Training Battalion.  Interviews with officers
and enlisted members of the original staff confirm the wisdom of the
assignment.  From Parris Island, Major Henderson was transferred in 1950 to
the Division of Plans and Policy at Headquarters Marine Corps where, in
addition to her regular duties, she was concerned with developing personnel
and assignment policies for the newly integrated WMs.  She played an important
role in the return of women Marines to posts and stations during the Korean
War.

     During subsequent tours she served consecutively as commanding officer,
Woman Officer Training Detachment; assistant G-1, Marine Corps Base, Camp
Pendleton; and as head, Women's Affairs Section, Division of Plans and Policy
at Headquarters Marine Corps.

     As Director of Women Marines, Colonel Henderson worked to establish the
billet for Sergeant Major of Women Marines, since she believed that enlisted
women would speak more freely to the Sergeant Major than to the Director.
Sergeant Major Bertha L. Peters (later Billeb), already assigned to the
Director's office since June 1959, was elevated to the new position of
Sergeant Major of Women Marines in January 1961.

     Completing her tour as Director in January 1964, and, once again a
lieutenant colonel, she was assigned as assistant G-1, Marine Corps Recruit
Depot, San Diego.  Colonel Henderson, reappointed to the rank of colonel,
received the Legion of Merit, by the commanding general, Major General Bruno
A. Hochmuth, at a parade marking her retirement on 31 January 1966.

Colonel Barbara J. Bishop

     Colonel Barbara J. Bishop, the fifth Director of Women Marines, was born
in Boston, schooled in Everett, Massachusetts, and graduated from Yale
University in January 1943 with a bachelor of fine arts degree.

     She enlisted in the Marine Corps on 18 February 1943, just five days
after the public announcement of the new Women's Reserve program.  Colonel
Bishop received her Marine officer training as a member of the second officer
candidate class at Mount Holyoke and was commissioned a Reserve second
lieutenant on 1 June 1943.

     Throughout World War II Lieutenant Bishop held a variety of command and
administrative assignments: commanding officer, Marine Training Detachment at
the University of Indiana; executive officer, Marine Aviation Detachment at
the Naval Air Station in Atlanta, Georgia; commanding officer, Aviation
Women's Squadron 21 at Quantico; and officer-in-charge, S&C Files, Division of
Aviation, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.  She was released to inactive duty
on 10 November 1946 with the rank of captain.

     During the next two years, Captain Bishop earned a master of arts degree
at the University of Chicago and was working toward a doctorate when,
following the passage of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, she
returned to active duty, selected as one of the original 20 Regular women
officers.  She served at Headquarters as officer-in-charge, S&C Files, until
January 1952 when she went to Headquarters, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, in
Hawaii.

     In September 1953 she assumed command of the Woman Marine Company at Camp
Lejeune, and was reassigned to Headquarters in 1955 as head, Women's Branch,
Division of Reserve, with the additional duty as Deputy Director of Women
Marines.  A lieutenant colonel, she returned to the field in October 1956 for
consecutive touts as commanding officer, Woman Recruit Training Battalion,
Parris Island; and assistant G-1, Marine Corps Schools, Quantico.  In March
1962 she went to Europe, reporting for duty in Naples, Italy, as military
secretary to the Commander in Chief, Allied Forces, Southern Europe.

     From Italy, she was once again assigned to Headquarters, this time to
succeed Colonel Henderson as the leading woman Marine on 3 January 1964.
Colonel Bishop served as Director during a time of sweeping changes in
programs and policies affecting women Marines.  When she was named Director
there were about 1,500 WMs serving at 10 Marine Corps posts and stations
throughout the United Stares and in a few overseas billets.  Four years later,
there were 2,600 active duty WMs serving 25 posts and stations as well as in
Europe, the Philippines, Okinawa, Japan, and the Republic of Vietnam.

     Colonel Bishop worked toward improving the living accommodations of women
Marines, increasing their assignment opportunities, and raising the rate of
their retention.  During her tour, women officers for the first time were
assigned to career military schools.

     When Public Law 90-130 was signed by President Johnson on 8 November
1967, removing certain restrictions to the promotion to field grade of women
officers, Colonel Bishop was among the first group of WMs to be selected for
promotion to the permanent rank of colonel.  Therefore, she, unlike Colonels
Hamblet and Henderson, retained her rank when she eventually left the position
of Director of Women Marines on 31 January 1969.

     Colonel Bishop, whose last assignment was congressional liaison officer
to the Senate, retired in November 1969 and was awarded the Legion of Merit
during ceremonies held in the office of the Commandant of the Marine Corps,
General Leonard F. Chapman, Jr. Colonel Sustad, her successor, presented
Colonel Bishop a citation lauding her for her service to the women in the
Marine Corps.  The unofficial award was signed by all active duty WM officers
and was given in recognition of personal efforts on their behalf.

Colonel Jeanette I. Sustad

     Colonel Jeanette I. Sustad, sixth Director of Women Marines, was born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, and raised in Tacoma, Washington.  She earned a
bachelor of arts degree in sociology at the University of Washington in
Seattle in 1943.  On 8 May of that year she enlisted in the Marine Corps
Women's Reserve, received officer training at Camp Lejeune, and was
commissioned a Reserve second lieutenant on 27 December.

     Her first assignment was special services liaison officer, at the Marine
Corps Air Station, Cherry Point.  Subsequently she served as field operations
officer at the Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Facility, Oak Grove, North Carolina,
and assistant communications watch officer at the Marine Corps Air Station in
Ewa, Honolulu.  She returned to inactive status on 17 December 1945.

     Following demobilization, she spent a year in graduate study at the
University of Minnesota and later was employed as a veterans counselor by the
U.S. Employment Services in Tacoma.  Upon passage of the Women's Armed
Services Integration Act in 1948, she accepted a Regular commission as a first
lieutenant and reported to Headquarters in December.

     Transferred to Parris Island the following month, she was assigned as
executive officer of the newly formed 3rd Recruit Training Battalion.  From
May to July 1950, she served temporarily as the executive officer of the Woman
Officer Training Detachment at Quantico.  The Korean War brought changes to
the WM assignment policies, and she was one of the first to head west to
assume duties at Camp Pendleton.  Captain Sustad became the adjutant of the
Marine Corps Base, perhaps the first postwar WM to be so assigned; and upon
activation of the first post-World War II WM Company at Camp Pendleton, became
its commanding officer, serving in that capacity until August 1952.

     The first woman Marine officer to be assigned duty in Europe, she served
in the Staff Message Control Branch, Headquarters, United States European
Command, Frankfurt, Germany.  After her promotion to major in July 1953, she
became assistant head of the branch and in the spring of 1954, when the
Headquarters was moved to Paris, France, Major Sustad continued her assignment
there.

     Upon her return to the United States in September 1954, she served
consecutive tours as the executive officer, Woman Recruit Training Battalion,
Pattis Island; officer-in-charge, Procurement Aids Branch, Headquarters, 9th
Marine Corps Reserve District, Chicago; assistant to the executive officer and
plans officer, G-1 Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps; and as
operations officer, Marine Corps Education Center, Quantico.

     Lieutenant Colonel Sustad became the first full time Deputy Director of
Women Marines in July 1965.  Back at Camp Pendleton serving as the assistant
G-1, in June 1968, she was one of the first Regular women Marines to be
promoted to the rank of colonel after promotion restrictions were lifted by
Congressional legislation.

     Colonel Sustad was named Director of Women Marines in 1968, the same year
she celebrated her 25th anniversary as a WM, and she assumed the top post on 1
February 1969.  Wider assignment and training opportunities materialized under
the guidance of Colonel Sustad, and she worked to either change or to set
aside many outmoded regulations regarding grooming, marriage, pregnancy, and
dependency.

     Colonel Sustad retired on 31 January 1973.  In the citation accompanying
her Legion of Merit was written, "She worked tirelessly for the welfare of
each individual under her purview . . . ." a sentiment endorsed by many of the
WMs who knew her.

Brigadier General Margaret A. Brewer

     Then-Colonel Margaret A. Brewer, seventh and last Director of Women
Marines, was the only post-World War II woman to hold that position.  She
succeeded Colonel Sustad on 1 February 1973.  Born in Durand, Michigan, she
received her primary education in Michigan but graduated from the Catholic
High School of Baltimore, Maryland, prior to entering the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor.  She received a bachelor's degree in geography in
January 1952 and was commissioned a Marine second lieutenant in March of that
year.

     Candidate Brewer attended the Woman Officer Training Class as an
undergraduate during the summers of 1950 and 1951 at the time of the Korean
War.  Although the policy was to offer Regular commissions to only a few women
graduates of Officer Candidates School, and to release the remaining to
inactive duty as Reserve officers, rumors were rampant during the summer of
1951 that all would be retained involuntarily - and undergraduates as
candidate Brewer would be ordered to active duty in enlisted status.  The
scuttlebutt proved foundless and candidate Brewer returned to college to
complete her last semester, expecting to graduate in January and attend the
Woman Officer Indoctrination Course the following fall.  She notified
Headquarters of her graduation, and promptly received an unexpected set of
orders to the Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, where she served as a
communications watch officer until June 1953.  The personnel shortage was so
acute that Lieutenant Brewer was assigned with no more than 12 weeks of
officer candidate training.  She attended neither the Woman Officer
Indoctrination Course nor the Communications Officers School.  Plans were made
to send her to the WOIC in September, but when the time came she had already
successfully served as an officer for six months and the command at El Toro
declined to release her.

     She was then transferred to Brooklyn to activate the post-Korea WM
Communications Platoon to be attached to the 2nd Signal Company, USMCR.
Lieutenant Brewer served as the assistant inspector-instructor until late
summer 1955.  From September 1955 until June 1958, in the rank of captain, she
served as commanding officer of the Woman Marine companies at Norfolk,
Virginia, and Camp Lejeune.  During the 18 months following, she was a platoon
commander for women officer candidates at Quantico, during summer training
sessions, and a woman officer selection officer during winter and spring, with
headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky.  Transferred to Camp Pendleton in
November 1959 for duty with the Commissioned Officers Mess, she was promoted
to major in September 1961.  In April 1963 she returned to Quantico to serve
as executive officer and later, as commanding officer, of the Woman Officer
School.  From 1966 to February 1968, Major Brewer was assigned to the Public
Affairs Office, 6th Marine Corps District, in Atlanta, Georgia, and she was
promoted to lieutenant colonel in December 1966.

     Lieutenant Colonel Brewer served as Deputy Director of Women Marines at
Headquarters Marine Corps from March 1968 to March 1971.  Reporting to
Quantico, she assumed duty as special assistant to the Director, Marine Corps
Education Center.  Promoted to colonel in December 1970, she became chief of
the Support Department, Marine Corps Education Center, in June 1972, and
served in that capacity until she became the Director of Women Marines in
February 1973.

     During her last weeks as Director, Colonel Brewer spoke enthusiastically,
not only of the increased opportunities for women in the Marine Corps, but of
the notable change in attitude on the part of male Marines in positions of
influence at Headquarters.  For several years she had devoted her energies to
effecting a smooth transfer of responsibility for women in the Marine Corps to
the agencies at Headquarters where it rightly belonged.  She confidently
turned the reins over, certain that these agencies had come to recognize women
Marines as Marines.  Colonel Brewer was reassigned as the deputy director,
Division of Information, Headquarters, Marine Corps on 1 July 1977.

     General Brewer became the Marine Corps' first woman general officer when,
on 11 May 1978, she was assigned as the Director of Information, Headquarters
Marine Corps, and appointed a brigadier general.

     At the time there was no legal provision for the routine selection and
promotion of a woman to flag rank in either the Navy or the Marine Corps.
Women could, however, be designated by the Secretary of the Navy for the
billet of a rear admiral or brigadier general.  A woman officer so designated
could be appointed to that rank while so serving.  A Navy woman of the time
had previously been so appointed.  A special board was convened at
Headquarters to select the Director of Information.  Four women colonels were
considered.

The Position

     As women became more accepted in the Marine Corps; as policies, law, and
traditions were changed; as discriminatory restrictions fell; the position of
the Director of Women Marines evolved from one of nearly complete control to
one of an advisory nature.  Although technically they were always considered
advisors, the early Directors, with the exception of Colonel Streeter, were
members of the Commandant's staff and were directly involved in recruiting,
training, uniforming, and assigning women Marines. The careers of senior
officers and enlisted women were managed by the Director and all were
personally known to her.

     The Director's stated mission belied her real influence.  According to
the Marine Corps Manual, "The Director of Women Marines advises the Commandant
and staff agencies on all matters of policy and procedure concerning women in
the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve."  The functions of the officer were
listed as:

     (1) Initiates policies and makes recommendations on all policies and
procedures affecting women initiated by other divisions and departments. (2)
Advises and makes recommendations on duty assignments of Women Marines.  (3)
Advises cognizant staff agencies in the execution of approved policies
affecting Women Marines.  (4) Visits and assists in the inspection of
activities where Women Marines are stationed.  (5) Maintains liaison with
directors of women in the other Armed Services and with the Office of the
Secretary of Defense in connection with the Defense Advisory Committee on
Women in the Armed Services.

     As a result of a reorganization of Headquarters Marine Corps in October
1973, the Director was placed under the cognizance of the Manpower Department,
which encompassed the major areas of concern to her.  Colonel Brewer spent
increasingly more time transferring the functions of her office to the
appropriate Headquarters departments.  The 26th Commandant, General Louis H.
Wilson, Jr., had directed that women Marines were to be treated more truly as
Marines; recruited, trained, and assigned as members of a single and united
Corps.

     The news that there would no longer be a Director of Women Marines was
made public on 16 June 1977 and on that day Colonel Brewer reaffirmed her
confidence in the planned disestablishment of the position.  The office
created in 1943 and reinforced in 1948 was to be disbanded at a time when the
Corps proposed to almost triple the women's strength of 3,700.  Only the Army
would be left with a director of women.

     Ceremonies marking the dissolution of the Director's position were held
on 30 June 1977 in the Commandant's office.  Among the guests was retired
Colonel Julia E. Hamblet, the woman who had held the position of Director of
Women Marines longer than any other, and who additionally had served as
Director of the Women's Reserve immediately after World War II. General Wilson
traced the history and accomplishments of women Marines since World War II,
and he recalled the often-told story that when General Thomas A. Holcomb
authorized the acceptance of women into the Marine Corps, former Commandant
Archibald Henderson's portrait fell from the wall.  The 1977 Commandant
gallantly added that if sometime in the future, the announcement should be
made that there would no longer be women Marines, he hoped that his portrait
too, would fall to the floor.