During World War II, the United States Marine Corps Women’s Reserve imposed rigid entry requirements, including U.S. citizenship, minimum height and weight, good vision and teeth, and restrictions on marriage and children, though some rules later changed to allow wives of enlisted Marines to join and enlisted women to marry after boot camp. The reserve excluded African American and Japanese American women during the war years, while Minnie Spotted-Wolf of Heart Bute, Montana, became the first Native American to enlist. In training camps, these women faced verbal and psychological abuse and resentment from Marine drill instructors and were nicknamed “BAMS,” but over time their competence, self assurance, sharp appearance, and pride won over many detractors. By the end of the war, the Women’s Reserve had reached a peak strength of 820 officers and 17,640 enlisted, and although barred from heavy lifting and combat, they served under the slogan “Free a Marine to fight” as Pacific casualties mounted. Rosie the Riveter became a United States cultural icon representing women who worked in factories and shipyards producing munitions, war supplies, aircraft, and ships; she also became a symbol of feminism and women’s economic power. Her popularity led to a 1942 song by Redd Evans and John Loeb and a 1944 drama film, while wartime industry, especially aviation, saw vast growth in female labor, with more than 310,000 women building fighters and bombers, women making up 65 percent of that industry’s workforce, and nearly 19 million women holding jobs during the war. Many had already been working in lower paying jobs or were returning to the workforce after layoffs during the Depression, and in 1944, as victory seemed assured, U.S. government propaganda shifted to urge women back into the home. Their shared experience showed them and the country that they could do a man’s job and do it well, and the war’s changes provided a foundation for the contemporary women’s movement.