HISTORY A Series of First
17 March 1947
Technical Sergeant Mary Frances Wancheck
Becomes the first Woman Marine to rate a “hash mark.”
8 September 1949
Sergeant Annie Graham
First black women in the Marine Corps when she enlisted on Sept. 8, 1949.
13 June 1952
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ruth Wood
First women in the Marine Corps to be promoted to Warrant Officer.
1953
Staff Sergeant Barbara Olive Barnwell
First female Marine to be awarded the Navy and Marine Corps medal for heroism for saving a fellow Marine from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean in 1952.
1965
Chief Warrant Officer-3 Rose Franco
First Hispanic woman to become a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
18 March 1967
Master Sergeant Barbara Jean Dulinsky
Becomes the first woman Marine to serve in a combat zone in Vietnam. She was assigned to U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam combat operations center in Saigon.
18 March 1967
Major General Angela Salinas
Becomes the first Hispanic woman to become a brigadier general in the Marines.