Opha Mae Johnson
| Opha Mae Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Opha Mae Johnson |
|
| Born | February 13, 1900 |
| Died | January 1975 |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Service/branch | United States Marine Corps |
| Years of service | Enlisted 1918 |
| Rank | Private |
| Unit | Marine Corps Reserve |
Opha Mae Johnson (February 13, 1900 – January 1976) was the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. She joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 1918.
[edit] Military service
Johnson was a United States Marine in the late 1910s. She became the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps on August 13, 1918, when she joined the Marine Corps Reserve during World War I. Johnson was the first of 305 women to enlist in the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve that day.[1]
Enlistment came half a century after Susan B. Anthony championed women's rights and some twenty years after Alice Paul fought for the same cause. Johnson was seen as another combatant in the nations recent women's rights movement.
When she became a Marine, she was given a category of "F" (for female). Johnson was a recipient of the National Defense Service Medal. In those days women were allowed to enlist but were not allowed to serve in war zones. Opha Mae Johnson may have worked as a secretary, a cook, or another job which the first women Marines were allowed to perform, but she would not have been a military nurse (the Marine Corps does not employ a medic specialty; that position is carried out by the Navy) while her male counterparts were being sent to fight in France.
It would not be until 1967 that a female Marine was allowed to serve in a war zone, beginning with Barbara Dulinsky.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Women in the Marine Corps". History Division, United States Marine Corps. July 2006. http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/HD/Frequently_Requested/Women.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
- "History of the Women Marines". Women Marines Association. http://www.womenmarines.org/history.php.
- Muth, Rose A. (March 12, 2004). "Women Marines celebrate 61 years of service". Okinawa Marine (Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan: United States Marine Corps). Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20070310233908/http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/Public+Affairs+Info/Archive+News+Pages/2004/040312-ball.html.
