United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve
Its purpose was to release officers and men for combat, and to replace them with women in U.S. shore stations for the duration of the war plus six months.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of its establishment, the Reserve received a message from President Franklin D. Roosevelt in which he observed, "You have quickly and efficiently taken over scores of different kinds of duties that not long ago were considered strictly masculine assignments, and in doing so, you have freed a large number of well trained, battle ready men of the corps for action."
The most notable was Edith Nourse Rogers, Representative of Massachusetts, and Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the president, who helped pave the way for its reality.
[2] It was the last service branch to accept women into its ranks, and there was considerable unhappiness about making the Marine Corps anything but a club for white men.
Despite Holcomb's dislike for nicknames, several of them surfaced for the Reserve, including: Femarines, WAMS, BAMS, Dainty Devil-Dogs, Glamarines, Women's Leatherneck-Aides, MARS, and Sub-Marines.
Weeks earlier, Mrs. Anne A. Lentz, a civilian clothing expert who had helped design the Reserve uniforms, was commissioned a captain.
She was the wife of a prominent (Morristown, NJ) lawyer and businessman, and the mother of four children, three sons in the military during World War II, and one younger daughter.
The Marine Corps also dedicated the headquarters building of the Fourth Recruit Training Battalion at Parris Island, South Carolina, to her.
[15] Early recruiting was brisk, so much so that in some cases women were sworn in and put to work in procurement offices, delaying their training until later.
[13] The slogan "Free a Marine to Fight" proved to be a strong drawing card for the Reserve, stronger than any fashioned by the WAC, WAVES, or SPARS.
Marine Corps emblems were placed on the cap and the uniform lapels; scarlet chevrons were sewn on the jacket's sleeves.
It had short sleeves and a V-neck, worn with gilt buttons on the jacket and cap, with dress emblems and white pumps.
For recreation, field nights, and physical conditioning, women Marines wore the peanut suit, so named because of its colored appearance.
In keeping with the propriety of the times, the women covered their legs with a front-buttoned A-line skirt when not actively engaged in sports, exercises, or work details.
Candidates studied the following naval subjects: organization; administration; personnel; history; strategy; law; justice; ships and aircraft.
It included the following: administration; courtesy; map reading; interior guard (to preserve order, protect property, and enforce regulations within the command); safeguarding military information; and physical conditioning.
The Marine Corps opened its own schools for officer candidates and recruit training at Camp Lejeune in July 1943, under the command of Colonel John M. Arthur.
Officer candidates and recruits in training at Navy facilities were transferred to Camp Lejeune, where over 15,000 women became Marines during the remainder of World War II.
Reserve personnel observed demonstrations in hand-to-hand combat, use of mortars, bazookas, flame-throwers, an assortment of guns, and landing craft.
[32] Leaving the college campuses for the Camp Lejeune training center was a change, but it introduced the officer candidates and recruits to the real Marine Corps military environment.
[34] This took a toll on the Reserve and its director, causing General Holcomb (Commandant of the Marine Corps) to take steps to end it.
In time, the open hostilities subsided, and before long the women's competence, self-assurance, sharp appearance, and pride won over most of their detractors.
[35] After completing their Marine Corps basic training, selected women received advanced schooling in a variety of specialties.
By the end of the war, 9,641 members of the Reserve had attended more than 30 specialist schools run by higher educational institutions and departments of the U.S.
[37] The Reserve strength on 1 June 1945 was 17,672, of which 1,342 were engaged in occupations classified as professional or semi-professional; 10,279 in clerical; 741 in sales; 587 in services; 344 in skilled trades; 1,305 as semi-skilled; 14 as unskilled; 35 as students; and six unaccounted for.
[39] The first duty posts and stations for the Reserve included places such as Washington, D.C.; New York; Philadelphia; Chicago; San Diego; and Quantico, Virginia.
[43] In addition, members were expected to have a stable personality, sufficient skill to fill one of the billets for which women had been requested, and motivation to do a good job.
[46] On 1 October 1945, four members from the El Toro Air Station died when the automobile they were riding in was hit by a train near Irvine, California.
[48] Second Lieutenant Mary Rita Palowitch and Corporal Germaine C. Laville, Aerial Gunnery Instructors, were teaching at the Cherry Point Air station, when a civilian cleaning crew accidentally started a fire in their building.
[19] In early 1946, there was speculation that legislation to give women permanent status in the military was being considered, which prompted the Marine Corps to relax its demobilization policy.
