Bonnie Smallwood Medin

Musical Women Marines Bonnie Smallwood Medin

Why did young women musicians leave their small towns and families to join the Marine Corps during World War II? What was life like for these women at the rapidly-expanding Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base in North Carolina during the war? How did they end up forming the only all-female Marine Corps concert and marching band in the history of the Corps? And how did the male Marines regard the women musicians and all the other female Marines on the base? What happened to these women musicians after the war was over and the band was dissolved? The story of this unusual military band of women musicians reads like a personal memoir. Musical Women Marines is carefully documented from in-person interviews, documents from the historical branch of the United States Marine Corps, letters and tapes from 42 of the 67 band members, news clippings, and reference information from the United States Marine Band, "The President's Own." The book includes 26 photos, both personal and professional. The principal writer, Rita Ellen Stone, met the band historian, Bonnie Smallwood Medin, by accident in 1979. Bonnie's joyous memories, many included in a personal diary, were the inspiration for Musical Women Marines - The Marine Corps Women's Reserve Band in World War II.