Colonel Towle returned to work at the University of California. The outgoing director proposed that Julia E. Hamblet replace her. Three months later, Hamblet was appointed as the third and final director of the wartime Reserve. When August 1946 came around, some 300 women had been asked by the Marine Corps to stay on, even as the last of the Reserve's barracks was being closed. For the next two years, these women served the Marine Corps in an undetermined status. But on 30July 1948, the Women's Armed Services Act (Public Law 625) was signed into law, which allowed these and other women to serve in the regular Marine Corps. Recognition On its first anniversary, 13 February 1944, the Reserve received a congratulatory message from President Franklin D. Roosevelt: General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, had initially been opposed to having women serve in the Marine Corps. However, before the end of 1943, he had reversed himself, saying: See also Women in the Air Force (WAF) Women in the United States Navy Women's Army Corps (United States Army) Women's Auxiliary Air Force (British) Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service Women's Royal Naval Service (British) "Wrens" Women's Royal Australian Naval Service References Citations Bibliography Further reading External links Women Marines in World War I USMCWR history and WWII women's uniforms in color — World War II US women's service organizations (WAC, WAVES, ANC, NNC, USMCWR, PHS, SPARS, ARC and WASP). All-female military units and formations Military units and formations established in 1942 United States Marine Corps Reserve Women in the United States Marine Corps American women in World War II