This story came out a whole month ago but this is the first I’ve heard of it, and I found it so interesting I wanted to repeat it. Golden Girls gem Bea Arthur had a secret past as a Marine in the early 1940s during World War II, where she worked as a truck driver and a typist. The Smoking Gun found plenty of official evidence that Arthur served in the armed forces for about two and a half years starting when she was just 21. She received an honorable discharge and left the Marines in September 1945. Arthur passed away in April, 2009, at the age of 86 after battling cancer. She publicly denied up until her death that she had served in the armed forces. The Smoking Gun may have found the reason why – Arthur contracted a venereal disease in late 1944 that earned her a misconduct report for being unable to work for five weeks. She seems to have recovered fine and to have served out her time. In Bea’s “personality appraisal sheet,” where she was first interviewed for the Marines, the boxes for “argumentative” and “over aggressive” were checked off!

While she strangely denied serving in the armed forces, military records show that the actress Bea Arthur spent 30 months in the Marine Corps, where she was one of the first members of the Women’s Reserve and spent time as a typist and a truck driver.

The “Maude” and “The Golden Girls” star, who died last year at age 86, enlisted in early-1943 when she was 21 (and known as Bernice Frankel). In a February 1943 letter included in her Marine personnel file, Arthur gave military officials a brief account of her prior employment as a food analyst at a Maryland packing plant, a hospital lab technician, and an office worker at a New York loan company.

Arthur was due to start a new job, but she “heard last week that enlistments for women in the Marines were open, so decided the only thing to do was to join.” While she hoped for an assignment in ground aviation, Arthur noted that she was “willing to get in now and do whatever is desired of me until such time as ground schools are organized.” She added, “As far as hobbies are concerned, I’ve dabbled in music and dramatics.”

As part of the enlistment process, Arthur underwent interviews that resulted in the production of “personality appraisal” sheets. One such analysis described her conversation as “Argumentative” and her attitude and manner as “Over aggressive.” In a handwritten note, the Marine interviewer remarked, “Officious–but probably a good worker–if she has her own way!”

Arthur is pictured here in an official Marine photo taken shortly after her enlistment. A second undated portrait can be seen above.

Arthur, who was fingerprinted during enlistment, started basic training in March 1943 and was initially assigned as a typist at Marine headquarters in Washington, D.C.. Over the following two years, Arthur was stationed at Marine Corps and Navy air stations in Virginia and North Carolina. During her military career, Arthur’s rank went from private to corporal to sergeant to staff sergeant, the title she held upon her honorable discharge in September 1945, according to one document…

The military records, released in response to a Freedom of Informaton Act request, include a single “misconduct report” filed against Arthur while she was stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, North Carolina. That misconduct determination stemmed from Arthur’s contracting of a venereal disease, which left her “incapacitated for duty” for five weeks in late-1944. As a result, her pay was reduced for that period.

[From The Smoking Gun]

I just loved Bea Arthur, and I understand why she denied that part of her past. It was so stigmatizing to have had VD back then and she probably didn’t want anyone to find out. Blame her cheating boyfriend, not Bea! What an interesting story about an incredible woman.

In her will, Bea left $300,000 to the Ali Forney center for homeless LGBT youth. They’re going to build a new residence for teens in transition thanks to Bea’s donation and are naming it after her.

Here’s Bea denying that she was in the Marines:

Marines photo via The Smoking Gun, where there are more. Photos are from 1992, 2004, 2005 and 2008. Credit: WENN.com

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