By Luke Lorenz
Manager of Government Affairs
Navy League of the United States
This is part of an ongoing series, where we look at the lives and legacies of U.S. sea service men and women.
When we consider the ceaseless effort to bring about a just and equal society for all Americans, it is important to remember that it has often been the military that led the way on so many important social issues. For example, the military became the first government institution to desegregate its ranks. Similarly, as women fought for equality in the workplace, it would be the military that would recognize the importance of providing such opportunities to one of the fastest growing segments of the workforce. And they would not be disappointed, as evidenced by Barbara Dulinsky the first female Marine to serve in an active combat zone.
Arriving in Saigon in March of 1967, Master Sgt. Barbara J. Dulinsky was assigned to the J3 at Military Assistance Command Vietnam. In her role she acted as the Top Secret Control Officer/Custodian of Classified Documents. Dulinsky had requested to be sent to Vietnam but doubted that she would receive the assignment. No woman had been deployed in such a manner previously.
Prior to making history, Dulinsky had been the Senior Drill Instructor for Female Marines at Parris Island. A native of San Francisco, she had enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1951 and risen steadily through the ranks. By the time she landed at Bien Hoa Air Force Base outside of Saigon, she was as competent and capable a Marine as any that had come before her.
Dulinsky’s choice to volunteer for an assignment in an active combat zone (in fact, her insistence upon receiving such an assignment) would open doors for all of the female Marines that would follow her. In the ensuing decades, women would enter combat roles and achieve other distinctions that would have been unthinkable before Barbara Dulinsky.