The Marine Corps is celebrating its 249th birthday this year.
ABC 10News reporter Madison Weil stopped by one celebration in La Mesa and sat down with Randy Tidmore, a 102-year-old WWII veteran.
Tidmore was a real-life Rosie the Riveter. When World War II broke out and men went to war, many American women went to work.
“I made gap covers,” said Tidmore. “A gap cover is a piece of metal that fits around the leading edge of a B-26 wing.”
She then joined the Marine Corps and remembers a male commander on her base wasn’t thrilled — a testament to the times.
“He said he wasn’t going to have women or dogs on his base…and he got both of them,” Tidmore said with a smile.
She graduated boot camp in 1944. She says her service taught her many lessons, and she’s carried them with her through life.
“I think I learned respect. I certainly am proud I’m a Marine. It really made me proud and it still does."
