PARRIS ISLAND, SC
Seventy seven years ago, the statue known as ‘Molly Marine’ was originally commissioned by Marine Technical Sgt. Charles Gresham, a recruiter, in hopes to increase enlistment of females into the military during World War II. At that time, American service men needed to be out in battle. Women were beginning to join and take over their jobs on the home front to “free a man to fight”.
Molly Marine was the first statue of a woman in uniform, and it was erected on Nov. 10, 1943 in New Orleans, La. This was the year the womens’ reserve was activated as well as the 168th Marine Corps’ birthday.