Colonel Julia Hamblet passes

A number of readers have passed along a link to the sad news that retired Marine Corps Women’s Reserve Colonel Julia Hamblet has passed at the tender age of 100. Stars & Stripes reports that she joined the Women’s Reserve in 1943 and retired in 1965.

In 1946, Col. Hamblet was named director of the Women’s Reserve, but postwar demobilization saw the ranks of female Marines dwindle to fewer than 200.

“I discovered that we could not get the active duty leaders we wanted for our reserve units,” she said, “without providing them the security of the regular service.”

The Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was passed in 1948, which made women full-fledged Marines, although they remained in separate units from the men for decades. Female officers could not hold a rank higher than colonel.

By 1953, when Col. Hamblet succeeded Towle as director of Women Marines, she commanded a corps of more than 2,700 female troops. Typical of the news coverage of the time, reporters commented on Col. Hamblet’s age (36) and appearance. Time magazine described her as a “girl who was born to pose for a recruiting poster.”

During the six years she led Women Marines, Col. Hamblet appeared on the nationally televised game shows “What’s My Line?” and “To Tell the Truth.” She voluntarily stepped down in 1959 because “I was blocking other women officers for promotion.”