Marine daughters - From a Mom who has one
By Gretchen Miller, Mother of a Marine Daughter

First of all, thank you so much Tracy for being so gracious to establish this site for all Marine Moms. What a great relief to find a place to be able to share not only our pride but our woes, our fear of the unknown and what tomorrow will bring. The vast links of information is so complete. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My name is Gretchen Miller and I'm a Marine Mom. I have a beautiful daughter in the United States Marine Corps. (see photo to the right). Holli Miller just graduated from boot camp in January. Like Derrick, she had wanted to be a Marine since she was very young. We visited a Marine Recruiter's Office in my office building on a "Take Your Daughter To Work" Day when she was 12. The rest is history.

She's in Combat Training now at Camp Geiger. All this time I've been thinking she was in no danger. She's a girl. Girls don't have to go to war. They stay in support positions. It never hit me until she called a few nights ago to tell me she named me as her "Next of Kin" and they didn't get their 4-hour liberty that day in lieu of the heightened terrorism alert level. She said she wanted to go overseas to fight for the safety of all Americans and she hoped they would let her.

MSN did a great piece recently on "Making Marines". They say "an average of 3,700 male recruits and 600 females are in training each day" at Parris Island. That doesn't include the men they train in San Diego. That's quite a ratio! I look on the web to find some type of release - someone to talk to who shares my concerns for my daughter but with one woman to perhaps 10 men who proudly hold that Globe and Anchor, it's a tough search and I've only found a couple of Moms of Daughters to date.

To Moms of all Marines, congratulations on raising your son or daughter. You must have done well or they wouldn't be who they are. We are an elite group in our own rite, "The Few and Always Bursting With Pride...the Moms".

To Moms of Women Marines, remember you're not alone. Feel free to email me anytime to share or release or whatever. To Tracy, thanks again for this site. You must be a wonderful person.

Below are links I've found regarding Women Marines. If you know of any other sites dedicated to the Female Marine, please use the "Contact Us" link to ubmit them! God bless you all.

- Gretchen Miller

Women of the USMC

Molly Marine