Nearly Thirty Years of Trailblazing Service
By Lucy LeVon
WAAC Recruitment Poster. Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Mary Elizabeth Cuthbert
December 24, 1914 - October 10, 1995
On the night before Christmas, a baby girl was born who would dedicate her life to protecting this country.[1] John Cuthbert had immigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1888 and eventually would meet his wife, Mary Carter. On December 24, 1914, they would welcome their first and only child, naming her after her mother. They lived their lives in Suffolk, Massachusetts; it is here that Mary would attend high school for all four years and work as a bookkeeper and cashier after graduation.
In May of 1942, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC, later changed to Women's Army Corps, WAC) was officially signed into action by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This act allowed women to serve in official non-combat military roles.[2] Over 60,000 women would enlist within the first year, and Mary Cuthbert was one of them. Mary would enlist for the Women’s Army Corps at the beginning of 1943 as World War II raged on. On her records, the terms of her enlistment were, “enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law.”[3] Sadly, very little information is known about Mary after she enlisted in 1943 as a twenty-eight-year-old. The WAC was still incredibly fresh when Mary enlisted, and her sacrifice was not appreciated by everyone. Many women of the time were shunned by their friends, family, and the general public for enlisting in the Army. Some felt that they were taking opportunities away from male soldiers, while others simply thought the military wasn't a woman's place. For many women, it was better to stay in the military rather than return to the general public right away. Many women were ostracized and did not receive the same benefits as their male counterparts once discharged. This could have factored into why Cuthbert chose not to leave the military until the end of 1971 at the age of fifty-seven.[4]
Although little is known of Mary’s time in the Army, she earned the rank of Master Sergeant and served through World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. We may not know much about Mary, but the Women's Army Corps went through a multitude of changes while she served and was a crucial aspect of the military until its disestablishment in 1978. Mary would see the WAC reach its peak in 1945, with roughly 99,000 women serving. Although the WAC veterans held military status following World War II, and technically were included in the G.I. Bill of 1944, many women faced difficulties claiming such benefits awarded to male veterans. Likely, due to the poor treatment, lack of benefits, and constant gender discrimination, enrollment numbers would diminish to only 6,500 in May of 1948. To regain popularity, President Harry S. Truman would sign an order that permanently integrated women into all branches of the armed forces.[5] Numbers spiked again at the beginning of the conflict in Korea, and roughly twenty percent of WACs served overseas; however, they were not allowed to be deployed directly to Korea as a unit.[6] They mainly served in Western Europe in crucial intelligence roles during the Cold War period. Enlistment remained steady through the Vietnam War, as women were finally assigned directly to Vietnam. In 1967, Congress finally removed restrictions against promoting female officers, allowing them to receive a general officer rank. Although there were, and still are, issues of gender discrimination in the armed forces, huge advancements were made throughout the late 1900s. Mary Cuthbert was enlisted through it all and would be discharged in 1971, only seven years before the disestablishment of the WAC in 1978.
There is no information following Mary’s service, but eventually she wound up in Colorado, where she passed away in October of 1995. Honored at Fort Logan, Mary E. Cuthbert was a heroic woman who dedicated nearly thirty years of her life to serving this country and should be remembered as a pioneer for women in the armed forces.
Footnotes ↓
[1]Personal information for this biography can be found at:
1920 United States Federal Census, ancestry.com, entry for Mary Elizabeth Cuthbert, accessed July 18, 2025
1940 United States Federal Census, ancestry.com, entry for Mary Elizabeth Cuthbert, accessed July 18, 2025.
[2]“Marching into History: The Women’s Army Corps,” National Archives Foundation, May 20, 2025, https://archivesfoundation.org/newsletter/marching-into-history-wac/. Accessed July 18, 2025.
[3] “US WWII Army Enlistment Records,National Archives, 1938-1946” Fold3.com, entry for Mary Elizabeth Cuthbert, https://www.fold3.com/publication/831/us-wwii-army-enlistment-records-1938-1946, Accessed July 18, 2025.
[4] “US, Veterans' Gravesites, ca.1775-2019” Fold3.com, entry for Mary Elizabeth Cuthbert, https://www.fold3.com/publication/1092/us-veterans-gravesites-ca-1775-2019 Accessed July 18, 2025.
[5] “The Women’s Army Corps,” WACVA-AWU, accessed August 20, 2025, https://www.armywomen.org/history. Accessed July 18, 2025.
[6]“Continuing Service & Changes: The WAC, 1946-1965,” Army Heritage Center Foundation, accessed July 18, 2025, https://www.armyheritage.org/soldier-stories-information/continuing-service-changes-the-wac-1946-1965. Accessed July 18, 2025.
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