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UAW Local 5960 Member honored by Women
Marines Association
by
MICHELLE TANGUAY
, Romeo Observer News Editor
Bruce
Township resident Mary Ann Merritt recently received the prestigious National
Service Award from the Women Marines Association (WMA) during the organization's
biennial convention held earlier this month in San Diego, Calif.
"I was just in total, total
shock," Merritt said when they called her name during opening ceremonies of
the convention.
The award is given to a woman who
exemplifies the Women Marines Association, an organization that was founded in
1960 to ensure that the history of women Marines would be passed on to future
generations of Marines. Merritt received the award from National President Carol
Mutter, lieutenant general retired.
Merritt has been a member of the Motor City
Chapter MI-2 of the organization since 1977 and has served as an officer for 24
of those 27 years. Nationally, the WMA has 77 chapters with some 4,000 members,
Merritt said. The Motor City Chapter has 40 members.
"We're always looking for more
members," she said.
Merritt's service, for which she was
recognized, is well-known in the Romeo area. She has been involved with
Operation Caring Friends, a program that collects items and then sends care
packages to those serving in
Iraq
. The ongoing program began in 2002 and was created
by the Motor City Chapter. Merritt also sends care packages on her own. She said
the letters she receives back from the soldiers, offering their thanks and
telling of their experiences make her efforts more than worthwhile.
"That's why I do it," she said.
The award also recognizes Merritt's
dedication in promoting the WMA. During the convention, she was also awarded an
engraved Marine Corps clock for being the top recruiter in 2003.
Merritt joined the Marine Corps in 1974
shortly after graduating from high school. One day, she was passing an Armed
Services recruiting office in her hometown of
Sterling Heights
and decided to stop in.
"I walked in and the Army guy was
busy," she said
Then she saw the recruiting area for the
Marine Corps.
"Something impressed me about the
Marines."
Merritt's goal at the time was to go to art
school and the recruiter asked her to bring back her portfolio, which she did.
While she says the Marine Corps has an "awesome art school" in
Quantico
, art was not to become her specialty as a Marine
as she would find out after boot camp.
The news that she had enlisted in the
Marines did not receive a favorable reaction from her parents who eventually
came to accept the idea.
"I was the rebellious one," said
Merritt, the second of four daughters.
She recalled the recruiter picking her up
at home at
5
a.m.
the day she left for basic training at
Paris
Island
.
After boot camp, she learned art was not to
be her specialty. Instead, she was sent to
Camp
Lejeune
where she trained to become an electrician. But
any regret about a career in art was short-lived.
"It was probably the best thing I've
ever done with my life," she said of joining the Marines.
After training in
Camp
Lejeune
, she was sent to
Albany
,
Ga.
,
her first duty base, where she became the only woman and Marine to work as a
lineman at the base.
"I worked with five civilians,"
she said.
Since the uniform for a woman Marine at the
time was dressy, Merritt had to receive special permission to wear blue jeans, a
T-shirt and boots to do her work.
While serving in
Georgia
, she met and married her first husband, a fellow
Marine. When she became pregnant in 1975, she had to leave the Marine Corps, a
rule which is no longer in effect, Merritt said.
"Now they allow women to stay
in," she said.
In 1976, she joined the Reserves and served
for 10 years. Having moved back to
Michigan
from
Georgia
, her time as a Reservist was spent at Selfridge
Air National Guard Base.
In addition to her work with the WMA,
Merritt mentors young Marines and assists Marines and their families with
services available to them when not working as pipefitter for General Motors or
spending time with her family. A 14-year resident of
Bruce
Township
, she is married to Jeff and has two adult
children, Cathy and Michael. She is also the grandmother of Alina and Alec.
She credits her parents and the Marines for
what she has become.
"My parents gave me an excellent
foundation," she said. "The Marines shaped that foundation."
Re-printed with permission
from the Romeo Observer
For More Information Contact:
UAW Local 5960
180 E. Silverbell Rd. Lake Orion MI 48360
Tel: 248-377-2520
FAX: 248-377-2608
Internet: President@UAW5960.org
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