Staff Sergeant, Marine Corps

It’s interesting. She actually denied having served in the military, but personnel files show she was indeed a member of the Marine Corps for 30 months. She was apparently one of the first members of the Women’s Reserve, driving and typing for the war effort.

Arthur, born Bernice Frankel, went from private to corporal to sergeant to staff sergeant over her military career. She was honorably discharged in September 1945. Quote:

On a Marine qualification card that included a section titled “Talent for furnishing public entertainment,” Arthur is credited for “piano & organ 13 years” and “contralto-orchestra.” Her “active hobbies” included hunting with a .22 caliber rifle and “bow and arrow.”

It makes you wonder why she flatly denied having ever served.