Loretta Perfectus Walsh was the first American woman to ever serve in the Navy. Loretta was born on April 22, 1896, in Phillidelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the war events the led up to Loretta's decision to enlist in the navy. Walsh was 18 years old when she decided to serve our country. On March 17, 1917, Walsh engaged into a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Naval Reserve.Walsh was the first active-duty Navy woman, and she was the first woman to serve in the military in the position of a non-nurse occupation. The navy began to authorize the enrollment of women in Naval Reserve as ratings of yeomen on March 19, 1917. They were the first branch in the military to allow women to serve for our country doing thigs other than working as an aid.On March 21, 1917, Loretta Perfectus Walsh became the first ever woman Navy petty officer. That was the day she was sworn in as Chief Yeoman. Walsh was the first of 13,000 WWI yeomen females. They were also the first to receive the same benefits and pay as the men.Loretta died on August 6, 1925, at the age of 29.Most "yeowomen" or "yeomanettes" worked different jobs than the "yeomen" did. Most often the women did duties more as things like typing, stenography, bookkeeping, accounting, inventory control, and phone operation. Some other of the yeowomen did jobs like working as radio operators, electricians, draftsmen, pharmacists, telegraphers, fingerprint experts, chemists, torpedo assemblers, and camoflauge designers. The yeomanettes did not go to the bootcamps with the men.
Comments