Myrtle Rae Holthaus Hazard (1892 – May 19, 1951), later Myrtle Gambrill, was an American electrician and radio operator in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. She was the first woman to enlist in the Coast Guard, and the only woman to serve in the Coast Guard during World War I.

Early life

Myrtle Rae Holthaus was from

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, the daughter of Charles H. Holthaus and Lillian (Lillie) Otto Holthaus. Hazard, who survived

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

as a girl, learned radio and telegraph skills in an evening course offered at the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

in Baltimore.

Career

In January 1918, during World War I, Hazard enlisted and became a radio operator for the Coast Guard. As there was no official women's uniform, she chose her own ensemble, a middy blouse and a blue pleated skirt. Hazard lived with her parents and son in Baltimore, and worked in Washington, D.C. until the end of the war. She concluded her service in November 1919 as an Electrician's Mate 1st Class. She was the first woman to enlist in the Coast Guard, the only woman to serve in the Coast Guard during World War I, and the first woman to hold electrician status in the Coast Guard. (Wartime newspapers erroneously reported that twin sisters Genevieve and Lucille Baker were the first women to serve in the Coast Guard; in fact, while they tried to enlist during the war, they were not accepted.) For her service, she received the Order of St. Sava from the government of Serbia. "I like to think I helped prove that women can contribute more to national defense than just waiting for the war to end," she told an interviewer in 1950.

Personal life and legacy

In 1910, at age 18, Myrtle Holthaus married Claude A. Hazard, who worked in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

. They had a son, Claude Jack Hazard. She later remarried, to Henry Webster "Harry" Gambrill. She died in 1951. In 2019, her name was included in J. Luis Correa's address in Congress, honoring the Coast Guard on its 229th year. In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

's most senior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

, proposed that all the cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted sailors in the Coast Guard, or one of its precursor services, who particularly distinguished themselves. In May, 2020, the Coast Guard accepted the 39th cutter in the class, named USCGC Myrtle Hazard, in Hazard's honor.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazard, Myrtle 1892 births 1951 deaths American women in World War I Female United States Coast Guard personnel People from Baltimore County, Maryland Polio survivors United States Coast Guard