Coast Guard Auxiliary Reports
By Carolyn Brown Treadon
Thank you to Bob Asztalos for the following article.
The staff of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs Clifford Chester Sims State Veterans Nursing Home threw a great 100 year birthday party for Jean Strickland. Jean served in the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. Thanks to Coast Guardsmen from the Eastern Shipbuilding Group of Panama City, Stations Panama City and Destin, and the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary for making her day special. Mike Fitzgerald and Bob Asztalos represented the Auxiliary. In total, there were about 15 Coastguardsmen in uniform.
Jean Strickland, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, is presented with regonition of service at her 100th birthday.
Jean Strickland with members of Coast Guard.
Jean grew up on the west coast and served in the United States Coast Guard during WWII as a telephone operator.
Here is some background on the SPAR program. Jean was really a trendsetter based on this history. There were only 20,000 SPARS so I bet she is one of only a few left.
The Women’s Reserve of the U. S. Coast Guard Reserve program (officially nicknamed the “SPARs”), was first established in 1942. LCDR Dorothy Stratton transferred from the Navy WAVES to serve as the director of the SPARs. A total of 978 women officers and 11,868 enlisted women served in the SPARs during World War II.
YN3 Dorothy Tuttle became the first SPAR enlistee when she enlisted in the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve on December 7, 1942.
SPAR Harriet Radlay (later Winter) became the first female Quartermaster in either the WAVEs or the SPARs.
ENS Vera Hammerschlag became the first female commanding officer of a LORAN monitoring station on February 24, 1944, when she took command of Unit 21 at Chatham, Massachusetts.
Christine Valdez, a native of Utah, enlisted in the SPARS on 8 Nov 1943 and is the first known Hispanic female serving in Coast Guard uniform. She served the Seattle SPAR Barracks as a Pharmacist Mate 3C. The Coast Guard permanently opened active duty enlistments to women in 1974. In 1945 the first five African-American females entered the SPARs: Olivia Hooker, D. Winifred Byrd, Julia Mosley, Yvonne Cumberbatch, and Aileen Cooke.
In 1945 SPAR Marjorie Bell Stewart was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal by CAPT Dorothy Stratton, becoming the first SPAR to receive the award.
The Women’s Reserve of the U. S. Coast Guard Reserve (SPARs) was inactivated on July 25, 1947. Happy Birthday to Jean!
Thanks to Sherrie, we will always remember safe boating is no accident!
Please contact us to get your own “If Lost Please Contact” sticker(s) or for more information about our safe boating classes or learning more about getting involved in the Auxiliary, check out our website at www.uscgaux.net follow us on FaceBook @ Apalachee Bay Flotilla 12 or contact our Flotilla Commander Phil Hill at pnkkhill2000@yahoo.com
If you would like to learn more about vessel safety checks, please contact Steve Hults, Staff Officer for Vessel Examinations at steve.hults@uscgaux.net.
The Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed civilian volunteer component of the U.S. Coast Guard and supports the Coast Guard in nearly all mission areas. The Auxiliary was created by Congress in 1939. For more information, please visit www.cgaux.org.