Mary Sokup:  

nts signatures if they were under 21, can you believe the double standard for women compared to MEN!!!! They just needed to be 18, so I had to get both parents sign the papers. My dad wouldn't sign the papers because he had been in the Army so my Mom said if I checked all the branches and I still wanted to go in the Army then he would sign! Well I went and talked to the other recruiters and I met the Marine recruiter and decided that is what I wanted even though I didn't know the Marines had women. I did this in April and out of the four girls, three went in the Army and the other girl got engaged. I went in the Marines all by myself....I was on the radio the day before I left for boot camp. I was the first woman from Morris County in NJ to go in the Marines!!! I guess that is a great distinction. I made Sgt (E5) in two years. Again that was an accomplishment. I was stationed in Washington DC....I worked for the Asst Secretary of the Navy (Research and Development)at the Pentagon, that was really something, I had a chauffeur take me to and from work. I wore civilian clothes because of the Vietnam war. Was one of the first women to work on war games. Also was one of the first women allowed to attend a Mess night. When I went enlisted there were only 200 woman officers and 2000 enlisted women. Was also in Marines before they allowed you to stay in the military if you were pregnant, married or otherwise....Didn't get to see much of the world, but enjoyed the time I spent in the Marines 5 1/2 years....I was also stationed in Raleigh NC on Recruiting duty.