Loretta Perfectus Walsh
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Loretta Perfectus Walsh was an American sailor and the first woman to officially serve in the United States Armed Forces in a non-nursing capacity. She joined the United States Naval Reserve on March
U.S. Navy chief petty officers holding a wreath-laying ceremony at Walsh's resting-place.
Yeoman (F)
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Yeoman was an enlisted rating for women in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War I. The first Yeoman was Loretta Perfectus Walsh. At the time, the women were popularly referred to as "yeomanettes" o
Loretta Perfectus Walsh
…forces to allow enlistment by women in a non-nursing capacity. Walsh subsequently became the first woman Navy petty officer when she was sworn in as Chief Yeoman on March 21, 1917. 12 days after Walsh was sworn in as Chief Yeoman, President Woodrow Wilson went before the U.S. Congress late on April 2 to ask for…
A 1917 recruitment poster illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy
Joy Bright as a Reservist in 1918
Yeomen (F) being inspected by Rear Admiral Victor Blue (left center), Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, on the Washington Monument grounds, Washington, D.C., in 1918
Yeomen (F) attached to the Industrial Department, U.S. Naval Station, New Orleans, Louisiana, during World War I