World War Two USMCR Female Dog Tag

[1st Sgt CES]

Hello Everyone--- found this in Oklahoma when visiting the daughter in June---Female USMCR World War Two Dog Tag------It made my day !

[aznation]

This was Ethel's husband and Ethel is also now deceased.

 

Paul NeeDelman

 

Paul NeeDelman, 72, of St. George, Utah, formerly of Greeley, died Sunday, March 4, in Las Vegas. He was born March 22, 1928, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Herman and Bessie Needelman. On June 11, 1949, he married Ethel Hilda Kaplan in Miami. Mr. NeeDelman worked in electronics repair for 55 years. He was in business in Greeley from 1981-89 and owner of Electronic Servicenter of Greeley. He moved to St. George in 1992. He was a member of Crime Watch of North Miami Beach, Fla., and Greeley and a member of the Jaycees in Miami. Survivors are his wife, Ethel K. NeeDelman of St. George; a daughter, Janet N. Kline of Greeley; a son, Robert J. NeeDelman of Miami Springs, Fla.; a son-in-law, Richard D. Kline of La Salle; a brother, Arthur Needelman of Miami; and four grandchildren. His parents are deceased. Private services were March 6 at Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas. Cremation. Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society in his name.

[aznation]

Source: Find-A-Grave

 

Ethel was born on August 20, 1923 and passed away on Thursday, September 10, 2009. Ethel was a resident of Daytona Beach, Florida.

[aznation]

Here's a online newspaper article concerning Ethel's service.

 

https://www.greeleytribune.com/news/local/day-of-remembrance-women-recall-their-years-in-military/

 

DAY OF REMEMBRANCE Women recall their years in military

Local | November 11, 2004

 

Maria Sanchez-Traynor

 

While the men were fighting wars overseas, Ethel NeeDelman and Elizabeth Rawald were in an office during their military service.

 

The women are proud of their duty for their country and don’t mind that their service included typewriters and adding machines instead of bullets and guns. In the 1940s and early 1950s — a time when women were barred from active combat and always given office jobs — the two women were happy to serve their country in whatever way they could.

 

“There was a place needed for us and the men left us alone,” NeeDelman said. “Though they weren’t too happy that we kicked them out of their cushy jobs.”

 

NeeDelman and Rawald were the only two women participating at a Veterans Day ceremony at Kenton Manor Health Care Center in Greeley.

 

NeeDelman, 81, joined the Marine Corps in 1943 when she was 20. She admits with a smile that she didn’t have the most true of intentions when she joined.

 

“That’s where the boys were at and I liked the uniform,” NeeDelman said. She served as a payroll clerk for a platoon during World War II and was happy to do it. Her full dance card every Saturday night was also a plus. One of her best memories was staying up an entire night to cut checks for 500 troops coming home from Iwo Jima.

 

She has only one disappointment about her time in the military.

 

“I wanted to see the world,” she said. “I joined the Marine Corps and saw North Carolina.”

 

Rawald, 71, has similar stories about her office duties on an Air Force base in New Mexico. She joined in 1951, at 18. Her younger brother had dreams of being a soldier and, when he died at 15, she decided to take up service in his memory.

 

She doesn’t mind one bit that her military time was spent behind a desk; she preferred it.

 

Rawald was in the Air Force for a little more than two years. She left as soon as she married. She didn’t have much choice in the matter, though.

 

“You had to get out when you were married,” she said. “It was required.”

 

Now, the idea of a uniform for a pregnant soldier makes her laugh at loud.

 

“That would have been unheard of then,” she said.

 

The tidal wave of change of women’s rights in the military has swept by the women so fast that they have trouble keeping up with everything. Neither is sure whether women should be allowed in combat.

 

At least there’s one thing about the military that has stayed the same, NeeDelman said.

 

“I don’t have to tell you what men are like. They haven’t changed in 50 years,” she said.

 

 

 

 

[aznation]

WWII:Marine Corps (WR)

 

The Marine Corps was strictly male until World War II except for 305 Marine Reservists (F), popularly termed “Marinettes,” who served during World War I. By late 1942, the unprecedented manpower demands of the two-front war led to personnel shortages. Although Corps Commandant GEN Thomas Holcomb had intially opposed recruiting women, he followed the example of the Army, Navy and Coast Guard and began a drive to “replace men by women in all possible positions.” The Marine Corps Women’s Reserve was established in early 1943.

 

The public anticipated a catchy nickname for the women and bombarded headquarters with suggestions such as Femarines, Glamarines, and even, Sub-Marines, but GEN Holcomb ruled out the cute titles. In a March 1944 issue of Life magazine, he announced, “They are Marines. They don’t have a nickname and they don’t need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere at a Marine post. They inherit the traditions of Marines. They are Marines.” In practice, they were usually called Women Reservists, shortened to WRs.

 

Ruth Cheney Streeter became their first director. Wife of a prominent businessman, mother of four—including three sons in the service—and a leader for 20 years in New Jersey health and welfare work, MAJ Streeter had never before held a paying job. Her matronly, dignified demeanor allayed the fears of parents hesitant to entrust their daughters to the Marine Corps.

 

In the beginning, some of the volunteers may have longed for home. Training for the WRs took place at Camp Lejeune, NC, but the change from civilians to Marines began long before their arrival. Recruits traveled to Wilmington, NC, on troop trains of about 500. At the depot, they were lined up, issued paper armbands identifying them as “boots” (trainees), and ordered to pick up luggage–anybody’s luggage–and marched aboard another train. At the other end, shouting drill instructors herded them to austere barracks with large, open squadbays, group shower rooms, male urinals, and toilet stalls without doors. No time was allowed for adjustment. A few wondered what they had done and why they had done it.

 

Nonetheless, WRs were protected according to the customs of the day. The Marine Corps, renowned for excellent discipline and morale, had no history to help them bridge the gender gap. Women Marines were not pliant teenagers, but rather, adults at least twenty years old; most with work experience, some married; some had children; and a few had grandchildren. Since women were expected to adhere to near-Victorian standards, military leaders assumed a paternalistic attitude and the inevitable occurred—grown women were often treated like school girls. To prevent loneliness and avoid unfavorable comments, no fewer than two WRs were assigned to a station; enlisted women were not assigned to a post unless there was a woman officer in the vicinity; and it was customary to assign women officers to units of twenty-five or more WRs. Further evidence of that paternalistic attitude, women, unlike men of equal rank, could not have an automobile aboard base!

 

Yet the Marine Corps desperately needed their skills and gradually found out how far traditional job limits could be stretched. Five hundred WRs arrived at boot camp every two weeks and matching them to job openings was challenging. In 1943, Marine recruiting brochures promised women openings in thirty-four job assignments; but final statistics at the end of the war recorded WRs in over 225 different specialties, filling 85 percent of the enlisted jobs at Headquarters Marine Corps and comprising one-half to two-thirds of the permanent personnel at major Marine Corps posts.

 

Among all the beautifully worded accolades bestowed on women Marines of World War II, is a simple statement from GEN Holcomb: “Like most Marines, when the matter first came up, I didn’t believe women could serve any useful purpose in the Marine Corps. … Since then, I’ve changed my mind.”

 

 

 

[1st Sgt CES]

AZNATION --- Thank you for taking the time to post all this information on her and Females in the USMCR

[aznation]

You're welcome. My pleasure. -- Matt