WMA - PA2

WMA-PA2

PA-2 Liberty Belles Chapter

Women Marines Association, Inc.

April 8, 2006 was the birth date of the PA-2 Liberty Belles Chapter of the Women Marines Association. With a "Charter Membership" strength of 13 members, the initial meeting accomplished nominations, elections and installations of the first "Charter Officers" (see photo below), the first draft of our Bylaws and Standing Rules, and a head of steam that has propelled us through our first year to see us tackle many diverse projects and gain 10 more members.

Joan V. Alexander, President; Dehra Green, V. President;

Virginia Rueber, Secretary; Katherine Van Gorder, Treasurer.

One year after that first meeting, our membership now stands at 23, nearly double what we started with. The years of service era run the gamut from WWII 1943, the Korean Conflict, Vietnam, and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, through the late 1990s. We covered occupational specialties that included administrative and postal clerks, auditing and payroll processing, communications, electronic technicians, air traffic controllers, carpentry, truck and transport drivers, and quartermaster. We were not afraid to tackle any job, and still today, bravely step in to do whatever needs to be done.

Drawing from a geographic radius of 60 miles or more, including areas of Southern New Jersey, Eastern Berks County, Lancaster, Chester and Delaware Counties and a large portion of West-Central Montgomery County, we have accomplished most of our activities by way of the internet and newsletters for communication, and as individual contributions on behalf of the Chapter to the goals and purposes of the Women Marines Association. We volunteer on the boards of directors for various civic and youth organizations, work to promote the history of Women in the Military centered on Women Marines, accept leadership roles in various other veterans’ organizations and work hand in hand with the Marine Corps League where ever possible. We have adopted more than a dozen Women Marines deployed to Iraq, supporting them with letters of encouragement from home and care packages to supplement items not readily obtained in their areas of deployment. We assisted with hosting a luncheon to recognize the contributions of an active duty Woman Marine home on leave, and reach out to wounded veterans in local military hospitals struggling with their recovery and rehab, and support older veterans in the local VA Hospitals and nursing units by way of the VA’s "Friend of a Vet" program, assist veterans in need of transportation to make doctors appointments, shopping, etc, and generally check up on them to be sure they are alright as they struggle to maintain their independent living arrangements. We are sponsoring the daughter of a Marine Vietnam Vet for scholarships from WMA to attend Gettysburg College and plan to pursue the same from the Marine Corps League and the American Legion.

We meet regularly every other month on Saturday to share a lunch and socialize a bit, followed by our business meeting to plan what we can do next and report on what we have accomplished. There is so much energy in our group that we envision great achievements for PA-2, for Women Marines Association. We are a registered non-profit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue as eligible to receive tax-exempt donations, so....... ($mile)!