Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

This is a story of a Marine, the first female Marine. Her name, Afa Mae Johnson. It was close to the end of World War I when the Marine Corps decided to fill some of the gaps left behind by all the men fighting overseas. In 1918, Johnson was one of 300 women who showed up

to take one of those jobs. Women weren't even allowed to vote at the time. Johnson was born

in Kokomo, Indiana, and she was a rapid fire typist. She was working in the Interstate Commerce

Commission when the Marines issued that call for help. She was working in the Interstate Commerce Commission when the

Marines issued that call for help. Johnson was literally the first one in line. She took a job

clerking at the Marine Corps headquarters in Arlington. Even though they were clerks, the women had

to train and drill just like other Marines. Drill sergeants made their displeasure clear, calling the women

marinettes.

That's according to Linda L. Hewitt's book, Women Marines in World War I.

The female Marines were not amused by the nickname.

In a letter included in Hewitt's book, one of the female Marines wrote, quote,

Isn't it funny?

The minute a girl becomes a regular fellow, somebody always tries to queer it by calling her

something else. She added, quote, well, anybody that calls me anything but Marine is going to hear

for me. The women were all in, but their time in the Marines was brief. After the end of World War I,

all of the military branches began disenrolling the women who signed up.

Johnson was let go in 1919.

She stayed in the Washington area and was active in the First American Legion Post dedicated to women.

For decades, she met with new veterans, supporting women as their roles grew more prominent in the military.

She lived long enough to see women raising the colors at the Marine barracks,

to see Captain Anne Lentz become the first female commissioned officer,

...