Opha Mae Johnson
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| Opha Mae Johnson | |
|---|---|
| born c. 1900 | |
| Allegiance | USMC |
| Years of service | enlisted 1918 |
| Rank | Private |
Opha Mae Johnson (born c. 1900) was a United States Marine in the late 1910s. She became the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps when on August 13, 1918 she enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve, in the midst of World War I. Johnson was one of more than 300 women to enlist that day.
Her enlistment came half a century after Susan B. Anthony championed women's rights, and about twenty years after Alice Paul fought for the same cause. Johnson began to be seen as another example of early women rights movement fighters.
She was enlisted as a reservist, and she got the category of "F" (for female). She obtained those categories because, even as women were being allowed into the Marines, they were still not allowed to go to war. Opha Mae Johnson may have worked as a secretary, cook, military nurse or other jobs that the first Marine women were allowed to do. Meanwhile, her male colleagues were being sent to fight in France.
It wouldn't be until the 1940s that female Marines were actually allowed to serve in a war zone.
[edit] References
- "History of the Women Marines", Women Marines Association.
[edit] External links
[edit] Further reading
- Muth, Rose A. "Women Marines celebrate 61 years of service", Okinawa Marine, Camp Foster, March 12, 2004.
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