THE HEROIC STORY OF THE FIRST AMERICAN MILITARY OFFICER "RUTH CHENEY STREETER OF BROOKLINE".

 Ruth Cheney Streeter of Brookline, Massachusetts, was an American military officer who was the first director of the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve (USMCWR).

In 1943, she became the first woman to attain the rank of major in the United States Marine Corps when she was commissioned as a major on January 29, 1943. She retired in 1945 as a lieutenant colonel.

At the age of 47, Streeter earned her commercial pilot's license, with the intention of joining either the WAVES or the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) as a ferry pilot in the war effort. 

After being rejected five times by the WASPS on account of her age, Streeter chose to give up flying altogether, and instead joined the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve. On January 29, 1943, she was commissioned as a major and appointed director of the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve. She was in office on the official creation date of MCWR on February 13, 1943.

 She was promoted to lieutenant colonel later that year, and breveted to full colonel in 1944. On October 31, 1945 she was awarded the Legion of Merit. She resigned her commission on December 6, 1945. During Streeter's tenure, the Women's Reserve grew to a size of 831 officers and 17,714 enlisted.

Related Article 

Leonard Alfred Funk Jr. of Braddock Township, Pennsylvania, one of the most decorated soldiers and paratroopers of WWII ,

was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on January 29, 1945, near Holzheim, Belgium.

Funk joined the Army in June 1941 and in 1942, volunteered for the paratroopers, part of the U.S. Army’s newly created airborne forces. He jumped into Normandy with the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment on D-Day, June 6, 1944, later taking part in Operation Market Garden in September and later in the Battle of the Bulge in December.

On January 29, 1945, he was serving as the first sergeant of his company in Holzheim, Belgium when he encountered a group of more than 80 German soldiers, 

most of whom had previously been captured by American forces but, with the help of a German patrol, had managed to overwhelm their guards. Funk opened fire and called for the captured American guards to seize the German weapons. He and the guards successfully killed or re-captured all of the German soldiers.

He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on January 29, 1945. Funk was honorably discharged from the Army in June 1945 and worked for the Veteran’s Administration after the war until his retirement in 1972. He died at age 76 in 1992 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Thanks for reading, leave your thought in the comment section below.