First female Marine honored at local American Legion's birthday

Nov. 12—Usually, when people list Kokomo's qualifiers as the "City of Firsts," they name things such as the first commercially produced car, or the invention of the pneumatic tire.

But on Veterans Day, American Legion Post 6 recognized another first that came from Kokomo — the first female Marine, Sgt. Opha May Johnson.

On Friday, a crowd shuffled outside toward the Post's golf course. Some were misty-eyed — no doubt still feeling the impact of a presentation that honored American veterans moments before — as they walked under the chilly, gray sky.

Standing in a semicircle at the edge of the golf course, idle chatter primarily fluttered around subjects such as the weather and weekend plans.

Their eyes, and in some cases, cameras, were all planted on the shrouded fixture, though.

Speaking into a microphone to address the crowd, Karen Bowman said she would make the ceremony "short and sweet."

"I'd just like to thank everybody for coming out, and I would like to thank the four ladies who helped me with this monument," Bowman said.

Standing nearby, Kelly Bagwell, Pat Whitesell, Dawn Pierson and Staff Sgt. Beverly Bishop beamed at their recognition. The audience applauded.

"We worked really hard on this and I'm very proud," Bowman said. "I'm just going to let the memorial speak for itself."

As Bishop peeled off a black cloth that had been covering the 32-by-42-inch monument, a granite face — overlaid on a rippling American flag — smiled back at the onlookers.

The crowd gasped.

Then, there were congratulatory cheers for the effort that had wrought a monument honoring the Kokomo native and first female Marine.

The monument unveiling came one day after the Marine Corps Reserves building at Grissom Air Reserve Base was renamed the Sergeant Opha May Johnson Marine Corps Reserve Center.

Bishop explained the group had been researching Johnson up until the monument was etched. They had reached out to the Marine Corps museum, went to the library, looked at old Marine Corps booklets and pamphlets, and scoured the internet.

"We just wanted to make sure everything was right," Bishop added.

The most surprising thing the group discovered was how few people were familiar with Johnson's legacy.

Troy Caldwell, who owns Caldwell Monument Company and worked on the granite memorial, said he was among the list of people who hadn't known about Johnson's legacy prior to the American Legion project.

"It's a really remarkable story," Caldwell said.

The researchers added it had also been surprising to see how many photographs falsely depicted someone else as Johnson.

Bowman explained the initiative began after sitting at the local American Legion post with her husband. Looking around the grounds, she noticed there wasn't anything to honor female veterans.

"We need one thing," she remembered telling her husband. "I found out that she was the first lady Marine to sign up and she just happened to be from Kokomo."

The unveiling also happened to fall on the local Post's 100th birthday, Bowman explained.

Earlier in the day, before the monument unveiling, Mayor Tyler Moore was presented with Caldwell Monument's practice etching, which featured Johnson's picture and the American flag, but did not include the biography that is on the actual monument.

Bowman and Bishop were hopeful Moore would display the miniature monument somewhere in the city.

In a move to honor the American Legion's birthday, the mayor proclaimed Nov. 11, 2022, as American Legion Post 6 day in Kokomo.

"We just thought it was good for her to be our first lady monument," Bowman said. "She and the 90 ladies that worked at (Marine) headquarters, they were the first charter members of the Belleau Wood American Legion."

James Bennett III can be reached at 765-454-8580 or james.bennett@kokomotribune.com.