Women Marines

 The Origin of

"Molly Marine" 

In 1943, in the middle of World War II, Marine Technical Sgt. Charles Gresham, a recruiter, needed a way to promote the enlistment of females into the Marine Corps. He decided on a statue of a woman in uniform.  The statue of Molly Marine was fashioned upon the likeness of former Marine and New Orleans native Judy Mosgrove

Gresham enlisted the help of French Quarter artist Enrique Alferez to sculpt the statue.  Alferez used marble chips and granite instead of the usual bronze to cast the statue due to limitations imposed on materials because of the war. The statue would have to be restored twice during its lifetime due to the construction materials.

The original statue was dedicated Nov. 10, 1943, the year the women's reserve was activated and also the day of the Marine Corps' 168th birthday. Among the many firsts the Marine Corps can lay claim to is that of having the first statue of a female service woman in uniform erected in the United States.

The monument known as Molly Marine was dedicated on Nov. 10th, 1943, the 168th birthday of the Marine Corps, at the height of World War Two.

 (In 1966, a group of Marines raised funding to have Molly Marine coated in bronze and to be placed atop a new marble pedestal.)

The original statue is located at the intersection of Canal and Elks Place in New Orleans.

The statue is maintained by the Molly Marine Restoration Society, a combined effort of the Marine Corps League, The Marine Support Group of New Orleans, and the Women Marines Association.

Two replicas of the statue exist .

One is located at the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Virginia.

The second one is at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island South Carolina.

"The Molly Marine statue in New Orleans was the first statue of a woman in uniform to be erected," said Linda Priest, president of the Women Marines Association in Beaufort, S.C. "So naturally, it brings us a great amount of pride to know that the statue was that of a woman Marine."

Every Wednesday, on a graduation week, at the base of the Molly Marine statue, the graduating platoons of 4th Recruit Training Battalion form up to honor the Molly Marine of their respective platoon. The recruit selected as Molly Marine is the recruit who best exemplified all the traits that make a Marine during recruit training.

"The members of the platoon pick/vote who they want to receive the Molly Marine Award.  The recipient is usually a recruit who was good at everything during recruit training and or provided support for all the other recruits.

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"MOLLY MARINE"

Awards

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October 30, 2013

Parris Island

2nd MOLLY MARINE Award winner

PFC Mitzi Venegas-Fausto

CA-11 member

Santa Maria High School

2013 Graduate

Santa Maria, California

PFC Mitzi Venegas-Fausto

LCpl Brianne Sharrad

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January 18, 2013

Parris Island

1st MOLLY MARINE Award winner

PFC Jessica Kennedy

CA-11 member

Cabrillo High School

2006 Graduate