Marine Corps Celebrates 69 Years Of Women In Service

A celebration on Marine Recruit Depot Parris Island Monday as they marked 69 years of women serving in the United States Marine Corps.

As a group of female recruits crossed a path at Parris Island Monday, a floor below them, female marines laughed and reminisced about their time spent there decades ago.

" It's very special because at the time we came through was a time when there were a lot of changes going on in the Marine Corps with women,” Madonna Batterman Baucum said.  “They had just started qualifying with the rifle. I was the first female in my company at Camp Pendleton with military police. We were field MP's, and they had never had a female in the company. I didn't get to stay with them. I had to stay with a different company because they were in an open squad bay. So there were a lot of changes going on at the time,” she said.

While their platoon just celebrated with a 25 year reunion last year, they made the trek to Parris Island again, as Monday marked 69 years since women officially started serving in the United States Marine Corps.   Part of that included dropping mementos into a time capsule that will stay underground 25 years.

They can only imagine the changes female marines will report that day.

"I think we've got a long ways to go. We've come a long way from when I came in, certainly, but I think we've still got some more work to do," Ligia Anderson said.

First Lieutenant Melanie Salinas is proud to be among the women this week, and three years in the Marine Corps, looks forward to being part of the the strides women continue to make there.

"It started where women were just in admin jobs or filling a role to free a man to fight,” Salinas said.  “From that we've come a long way. Women are now deployed; they're in female engagement teams and getting right there on the front lines."

Among the other changes that have happened over the years -- women are no longer required to wear makeup and go through makeup application classes or attend tea parties in Beaufort.