Loretta Perfectus Walsh: First Female Chief in the Navy

With thousands of women serving in the American Navy now, few people know that the first female joined the Navy only a century ago. According to Mosteller (n.d.), born in 1896, Walsh worked at the recruiting station, when, on March 17, 1917, she was offered to join American Navy, becoming the first female to enlist in the Naval Reserve. Three days later, she avowed for the Chief Yeoman, serving in Philadelphia until the end of World War I (Mosteller, n.d.).

Enlisted in the Naval Reserve for four years, the woman continued her duty on reserve status before getting released for disability in 1919 (Ebbert & Hall, 2014). Notwithstanding her short life, Walsh’s service opened new opportunities to females, including the military social benefits and equal pay.

References

Ebbert, J., & Hall, M. B. (2014). Crossed currents: Navy women in a century of change (3rd ed.). Lincoln, NE: Potomac Books, Inc.

Mosteller, R. A. (n.d.). Loretta Perfectus Walsh. Web.