27 January 2012
Missing
Owner of a World War (USMCWR) Dogtag
My name
is Ron Franscell, and I am a journalist and author. I was approached today by a
man with an odd request: To help him find the owner (or her survivors) of a WWII
dogtag he found last year in the Susquehanna River near Havre de Grace,
Maryland. The dogtag belonged to JANICE M HANSON, a Marine in the USMC Women's
Reserve. Her serial number appears on the tag, along with the common notation
that she'd gotten her tetanus shot in 7/43. So the tag's design, the USMCWR
affiliation and the year of the shot suggest very strongly that JANICE M. HANSON
served in the early days of the USMC Women's Reserve.
I would like to help this man find JANICE M. HANSON or her surviving family so
he can return the dogtag. If she was at least 20 when she entered the service in
1943, then her birth year would be 1923 or earlier ... so she'd be 89. I hate to
think that we've missed our chance to return this small, but noteworthy artifact
to her, but I hope we can find immediate family who'd like to have it.
It's possible that JANICE M. HANSON never joined the WMA. It's possible she
married and her name changed. It's possible she didn't even return from war, or
live very long afterward. We just can't know until we dig deeper. The mystery of
how her dogtag ended up in the Susquehanna River intrigues me, too.
I think your members can help. Maybe someone remembers JANICE M. HANSON. Maybe
you have records that would tell us more information about her than fit on a
dogtag. Maybe your network of friends and friends-of-friends will lead us to her
doorstep. However we get there, I think returning this tag to her or her family
is worth every minute we spend trying.
Thank you so much for listening , helping and being patient while I explain this
unusual tale. I hope we can make something happen.
Ron Franscell
25270 Flaming Arrow
San Antonio TX 78258
22 January 2012
Credit: Submitted photo
Sgt. Major Laura L. Brown, Quantico base sergeant major.
By: Julia LeDoux
|
Inside NoVA
Published:
January 19, 2012 Updated: January 19, 2012 - 12:00 AM
QUANTICO, Va --
Sgt. Major Laura L. Brown isn’t one to make much out of the fact that she’s the first female Base Sergeant Major in the history of Quantico Marine Corps base.
But she is.
Brown will be the first to tell you that the accolades, awards and praise she’s received during her nearly 30-year career in the Corps aren’t the result of her efforts or hard work alone. Instead, she gives praise to the Marines she has served with over the years.
“When I came into recruit training, the reason I’m a sergeant major is, it was probably 1985 and I saw a ‘Marines’ magazine and I saw a man sitting behind a big old desk and he had a big old star on his chevrons,” she said. “I said, ‘I want to be that.’”
The San Antonio, Texas native was raised by her mother and is the middle daughter of three daughters. Brown knew there was no money for college, so as her high school graduation approached she began trying to figure out what her next step in life was going to be.
One of her male classmates told her that he had visited a recruiter. Her response: “What’s that?”
Two of Brown’s uncles had served in the Navy, but nobody in the family had served closer to her than that. After thinking it over, she decided to go visit the Air Force recruiter.
“But the office was closed that day, so I went to the Marine Corps recruiter next door. He took great care of me,” Brown said.
Brown enlisted in the Corps on July 9, 1984 and attended boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. That was back when recruit training for women was eight weeks long as opposed to the 13 weeks it is today.
“Recruit training was lengthened to mirror that of our male counterparts,” she continued. “I didn’t shoot with an M16 when I first came into the Marine Corps. When I became a drill instructor I had to go through all those things.”
When Brown entered the Corps, women Marines had to run a mile and a half. Now, they run three miles like male Marines.
“I saw the changes where women just did 50 sit-ups as opposed to 100 crunches like our male counterparts,” she said, adding that those changes gave women “equality along the way. I’m grateful for those changes.”
Brown’s career has taken her from Cherry Point, N.C. to Japan and to the sands of Iraq, where she was able to go into combat with a military police company as a First Sergeant. She was also able to serve aboard a ship, which the Corps began allowing women Marines to do in 1992.
Brown replaced Leon Thornton as Quantico’s base sergeant major after his retirement last year.
“My role as the base sergeant major is always first and foremost going to be the senior enlisted leader, or the voice for the community, to make sure the base commander, when he makes a decision it is based on the community’s best interests,” she said.
With a smile, Brown added that base commander Col. Dan Choike “knows that I’m always out and about talking to the Marines.”
Brown’s personal award include the Meritorious Service Medal (3rd Award); Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal with 3 gold stars in lieu of a 4th award; Navy Marine Corps Achievement Medal; Good Conduct Medal with one Silver Star and two Bronze Stars; Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Ribbon and a Drill Instructor Ribbon (2nd Award).
She is also the recipient of the 2011 Major Megan McClung Leadership Award.
http://www2.insidenova.com/news/2012/jan/19/brown-new-quantico-base-sgt-major-ar-1615426/
12 December 2011
Proceeds from the program below benefit the Marine Corps League Foundation of PA Inc.
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