Opha Mae Johnson
Encyclopedia
was a hardcharger
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.
. Johnson was the first of 305 women to enlist in the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve that day.
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 receipient 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, cook, but not a military nurse (the Marine Corps doesn't have any sort of medic MOS, that is carried out by the Navy), or other jobs the first Marine women were allowed to perform, while her male counterparts were being sent to fight in France
.
It would not be until the 1940s that female Marines were allowed to serve in a war zone.
Opha Mae Johnson (February 13, 1900 – January 1976) was the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. She joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 1918.
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 IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Johnson was the first of 305 women to enlist in the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve that day.
Enlistment came half a century after Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony
Susan Brownell Anthony was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. She was co-founder of the first Women's Temperance Movement with Elizabeth Cady Stanton as President...
championed women's rights, and some twenty years after Alice Paul
Alice Paul
Alice Stokes Paul was an American suffragist and activist. Along with Lucy Burns and others, she led a successful campaign for women's suffrage that resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.-Activism: Alice Paul received her undergraduate education from...
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 receipient 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, cook, but not a military nurse (the Marine Corps doesn't have any sort of medic MOS, that is carried out by the Navy), or other jobs the first Marine women were allowed to perform, while her male counterparts were being sent to fight in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
It would not be until the 1940s that female Marines were allowed to serve in a war zone.