TEHRAN, August 13 -Opha May Johnson made her mark decades before Rosie the Riveter became a female icon of the U.S. war effort in the early 20th century.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Opha May Johnson made her mark decades before Rosie the Riveter became a female icon of the U.S. war effort in the early 20th century.
She might be the most consequential female U.S. service member you've never heard of. But those now working to correct that oversight hope everyone will know more about Opha May Johnson by the end of the month.
Though she's been gone for more than six decades, Johnson remains linked to a remarkable place in history, which occurred exactly a century ago Monday -- the first woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps.
A USMC commandant asked Johnson to be the first to sign, not long after the military opened enlistment to women. She's remembered for being one of the first women to attain the rank of Marine sergeant -- after just one month and five days in the service. She's also remembered for working more than two decades as a civil servant at a time when married women were not supposed to work outside the home.
But there's one place her name isn't remembered -- her grave.
Buried in 1955 beside her husband, Victor Hugo Johnson, in an unmarked grave in Washington, D.C., her grave wasn't vandalized, nor was her identity unknown at the time of her burial. She's simply buried in a family plot along with her mother, father, brother and a female cousin. One large marker bears the Jacobs family name, Johnson's maiden name.
Fast forward about six decades and Johnson is about to get a grave maker befitting her role in history -- a 7-foot-tall obelisk detailing information about her life and featuring the Marine Corps seal.
The Women Marines Association will unveil the monument at Johnson's gravesite Aug. 29 to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of women in the Marines and the organization's biennial convention in the capital.
The monument
Former Marine Cpt. Nancy Wilt, historian for the WMA, said she was first tipped off about Johnson's unmarked grave around 2006. An official from the cemetery -- which is also the final resting place of historical figures Henry Adams, Upton Sinclair and Alice Roosevelt Longworth -- contacted Wilt to let her know about one other notable grave.
That phone call started Wilt and former Marine Maj. Kathy Sheppard on a decade-long research and fundraising campaign to correct what Sheppard describes as a "gross error."
"It broke our hearts to think that no one recognized her," Wilt told UPI.
"I said, 'We have to fix this. This is insane," Sheppard added. "Those of us who have been on active duty wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Osha May."
Though Wilt instigated what came to be known as the Opha May Johnson Monument Project, Sheppard, a former member of the WMA's national board and 10-year veteran, eventually took the lead. The team spent years trying to track down living relatives of Johnson.
"We had to ensure we had permission from any family member that might still exist to go in and disturb the cemetery plot," Wilt said.
Victor and Opha Johnson, though, had no children, and neither did Opha May's brother. The WMA finally tracked down one distant cousin, now in his 90s, who granted the requisite permission.
Since then, Sheppard said, the project has raised $18,000 of the $26,000 needed to fund the monument. They're continuing to accept donations, even after the unveiling, and anything collected beyond the target figure will go toward landscaping at the site.
Workers started pouring the foundation for the memorial last week and the final project is expected to be unveiled at a public ceremony at 1 p.m. Aug. 29. Expected to attend are Gen. Robert Weller, commandant of the Marine Corps, Sgt. Maj. Ronald L. Green and about 200 other guests. The President's Own Marine Band from 8th & I also will perform.
"This has been a long time coming," Sheppard told UPI. "A lot of hard work for a lot of people."
Source: UPI
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