Oldest female Marine laid to rest in New York

Photo By Sgt. Randall Clinton | Roberta Eaton, Marine veteran and part of the Women Marines Association, watches the grave-side ceremony for the formerly oldest living female Marine, Miriam Cohen, who was buried, Nov. 17, in Cypress Hills National Cemetery. The 101-year-old Cohen enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1946 during World War II and again in 1960 during the Korean War. She was the oldest female enlistee of her time at 35-years-old and was part of the first female Marine recruit class.  

11.17.2009

Story by Sgt. Randall Clinton 

Communication Directorate             

The oldest living female Marine died on Veterans Day and was buried, Nov. 17, in the Cypress Hills National Cemetery.

Miriam Cohen was one of the oldest females to enlist in 1946, at 35-years-old, said Debra Allee, the 101-year-old's niece. Cohen answered her nations calling twice, serving during World War II in 1946 and the Korean War in 1960.

Cohen, a graduate of the Girls High School in Brooklyn (since renamed to Boys & Girls High School), moved to Tucson, Ariz., when she was 92.

During their eulogy, her friends and family remembered Cohen's energetic life and attachment to the Marines.

Rabbi Deborah Hirsch told the story of the five-foot, elderly Cohen pushing wheel chairs around the veteran's clinics after she moved to Tuscon, Ariz, well into her 90s Cohen continued working with veterans throughout her life, and in that her loved ones found meaning in the timing of her passing.

"She died on Veteran's Day, that makes that day an even more sacred moment," said Hirsch.

Allee said Cohen was a vanguard for women service members. Cohen was one of the first females to serve in a command post, along with being in the first group of female Marine enlistees.

One of the proudest moments of Cohen's later life was her appearance as the grand marshal for the local Tucson, Ariz., Veteran's Day parade in 2006, said Dennis Mincieli, Allee's husband.

Apart from the friends and family gathered for the small grave-side ceremony, a group of local Marine Corps League and Women Marine Association members came to pay their respects and salute a fellow Marine laid to rest.

• Date Taken: 11.17.2009
• Date Posted: 11.18.2009 00:02
• Story ID: 41712