Whereas the Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, used the Naval Reserve Act of 1916, which allowed for the enlistment of qualified persons , to enlist women; Whereas, although women did not officially serve in the United States Marine Corps until 1918, many women have answered the call of duty from their country, serving with honor and distinction for decades prior, to include the legendary Lucy Brewer during the War of 1812; Whereas, before she had the right to vote, Private Opha May Johnson is officially credited as the first female Marine when she enlisted for service on August 13, 1918; Whereas, during 1918, approximately three hundred women entered the Marine Corps to take over the stateside clerical duties from the battle-ready Marines who were needed overseas to fight in World War I; Whereas the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve was formed in February 1943; Whereas Captain Anne Lentz became the first female commissioned officer, Lucille Ellen McClarren became the first female enlisted Marine under the direction of Colonel Ruth Cheney Streeter, the first Director of Women Marine Reservists; Whereas over twenty-three thousand women joined the Corps during World War II, performing over two hundred different assignments; Whereas, after each of the World Wars, all of the military branches began disenrolling the women who signed up to serve, and thus on June 12, 1948, Congress passed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which integrated women as a permanent part of the regular United States Armed Forces the following January; Whereas the 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act authorized one hundred regular female Marine officers, ten warrant officers, and one thousand enlisted women in a gradual buildup over a two-year period, with candidates coming from Reserve women Marines still on active duty and those with prior service