oracle
07-06-2002, 05:31 PM
Centerpiece: A soldier's story (http://www.naplesnews.com/02/07/neapolitan/d789609a.htm)
Former female Marine looks back at a time when gender made all the difference in the world
Saturday, July 6, 2002
By EILEEN McCLELLAND, Special to the Daily News
Former U.S. Marine Cpl. Bette Wakefield Block can talk for 15 minutes before her banana bread is due to come out of the oven.
Block, who joined the Marines at the age of 19 during World War II, is now a Naples resident like many others. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa; owned a business in Ohio; works part time as a bookkeeper; and spends free time attending concerts at the Philharmonic, socializing with friends, enjoying the sunshine, and baking banana bread on a Saturday afternoon.
But in the 1940s her life was markedly different from that of many of her contemporaries. As a result, she has her share of interesting stories that her friend and fellow Naples resident H.G. Fisher Jr., constantly goads her to tell and tell again.
"He kind of aggravates me," she said, with amused affection. "Every time we go someplace he says 'Tell them about this or that.' I say, 'I live in the present, not the past.'"
Still, sometimes she can be persuaded to tell a story or two about her experiences as a young woman in the U.S. Marines.
...
In 1942 the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps had been created by Congress. TheWAAC became the WAC, no longer an auxiliary, by a second bill in July 1943,signed into law by President Roosevelt. Other branches of the military followed suit.
On Nov. 7, 1942, women were included in the Marine Corps Reserve. They weren't part of a separate organization, but were known simply as Marines.
More than 400,000 women served in the military during World War II, according to Capt. Barbara A. Wilson, USAF (retired), on a Women in WorldWar II Web site. Sixteen women received the Purple Heart, awarded to soldiers injured due to enemy action. The Bronze Star was awarded to 565 women for meritorious service overseas. More than 700 WACs received medals and citations at the end of the war.
The Marine Corps Women's Reserve, however, was not permitted to serve overseas until the war was nearly over. Still, more than 200 job categories were open to women, including auto and airplane mechanics, drivers, parachute riggers, teletype and keypunch operators. Some were trained to parachute from planes and operate anti-aircraft guns, although only in training situations. Most were assigned to administrative functions.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.naplesnews.com/02/07/neapolitan/d789609a.htm)
Former female Marine looks back at a time when gender made all the difference in the world
Saturday, July 6, 2002
By EILEEN McCLELLAND, Special to the Daily News
Former U.S. Marine Cpl. Bette Wakefield Block can talk for 15 minutes before her banana bread is due to come out of the oven.
Block, who joined the Marines at the age of 19 during World War II, is now a Naples resident like many others. She was born in Des Moines, Iowa; owned a business in Ohio; works part time as a bookkeeper; and spends free time attending concerts at the Philharmonic, socializing with friends, enjoying the sunshine, and baking banana bread on a Saturday afternoon.
But in the 1940s her life was markedly different from that of many of her contemporaries. As a result, she has her share of interesting stories that her friend and fellow Naples resident H.G. Fisher Jr., constantly goads her to tell and tell again.
"He kind of aggravates me," she said, with amused affection. "Every time we go someplace he says 'Tell them about this or that.' I say, 'I live in the present, not the past.'"
Still, sometimes she can be persuaded to tell a story or two about her experiences as a young woman in the U.S. Marines.
...
In 1942 the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps had been created by Congress. TheWAAC became the WAC, no longer an auxiliary, by a second bill in July 1943,signed into law by President Roosevelt. Other branches of the military followed suit.
On Nov. 7, 1942, women were included in the Marine Corps Reserve. They weren't part of a separate organization, but were known simply as Marines.
More than 400,000 women served in the military during World War II, according to Capt. Barbara A. Wilson, USAF (retired), on a Women in WorldWar II Web site. Sixteen women received the Purple Heart, awarded to soldiers injured due to enemy action. The Bronze Star was awarded to 565 women for meritorious service overseas. More than 700 WACs received medals and citations at the end of the war.
The Marine Corps Women's Reserve, however, was not permitted to serve overseas until the war was nearly over. Still, more than 200 job categories were open to women, including auto and airplane mechanics, drivers, parachute riggers, teletype and keypunch operators. Some were trained to parachute from planes and operate anti-aircraft guns, although only in training situations. Most were assigned to administrative functions.
...
Click here to read more (http://www.naplesnews.com/02/07/neapolitan/d789609a.htm)