Bernice Tongate

Bernice Tongate (née Smith) (14 December 1897 – January 16, 1990 She was then allowed to enlist as a yeoman ten days later, becoming the first Californian woman to do so.

Early life Bernice Smith was born on December 14, 1897, in Pueblo, Colorado. She had an older sister named Lucile and a younger sister named Damaris. Their father died of pleurisy in 1915.

Career

In 1917, at the beginning of the United States' involvement in World War I, Tongate, aged twenty, was employed as an office worker in Los Angeles. Hearing of the war and that the Navy had opened up recruitment to women, she made up her mind to enlist. Upon arriving at the recruiting office, she was told by an officer that they did not accept women. Tongate questioned him, declaring that the newspapers said Washington was accepting women and further saying: M. Margaret McKeown described Tongate as "perhaps the most famous WWI poster girl".

Tongate was allowed to enlist as a Yeoman ten days later The first Californian woman to join, at the Naval Base San Pedro.

Tongate was discharged in February 1920, having acquired the rank of chief petty officer. She attempted to re-enlist in the Navy in World War II, and the Marines, but was turned down by both organizations on account of her age. She was accepted by the Army. She was assigned to work as a postal clerk on bases in California and Michigan, but also worked alongside nurses in the amputee hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. After the war's end, she worked in veteran's hospitals in California.

Later life Tongate had two grandsons who served in the Vietnam War. She died at the age of 92 on January 16, 1990.