Mary Hallaren

Ancestors

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Biography

Mary Hallaren is Notable.

Mary Hallaren was awarded the Women's Army Corps Service Medal.

Mary Hallaren was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Mary Hallaren was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Mary Hallaren was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.

Mary A. Hallaren was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. She was the daughter of John Joseph and Mary (Kenney) Hallaren.

Mary attended Boston University and graduated from Lowell State Teachers College. She taught junior high school for 15 years in Lexington, Massachusetts.

On the onset of World War II, Mary Hallaren enlisted in the Women's A. Army Corps (WAAC) in July 1942. Rising quickly in rank, CPT Hallaren commanded the first separate battalion of WAAC sent to Europe in 1943.

She served as director of the now Women's Army Corps (WAC) personnel attached to the 8th and 9th Air Forces, and by 1945, as she commanded all WAC personnel in the European theater.

Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Mary Hallaren was the deputy director; and on the retirement of the current director, Col. Westry Boyce, she became the new director of the US Army Women's Army Corps and promoted to full Colonel.

Her strong and forceful leadership was crucial to passage of the Armed Services Integration Act of 1948 which permanently allowed women to serve as full members of the U.S. Armed Force.

She served as director until 1953, then retired from the army in 1960, having been awarded the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the Army Commendation Medal.

In 1965, Hallaren assumed direction of Women in Community Service, sponsored by a coalition of diverse women’s organizations. Through its program, at-risk women were able to secure job training and economic opportunity. Because of Hallaren’s vision and inspiration, women who might have failed economically and socially, succeeded. ^[1]

In retirement she continued her active life. She became a federal employee at the Department of Labor until 1978. She was an advocate of the principle that qualifications and abilities were not related to gender or race. In the 1990s, she was a leading proponent of the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, which was dedicated in 1997. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.

COL Mary Hallaren passed away February 13, 2005 in McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia. She was 97 years old. ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ National Women's Hall of Fame
2. ↑ Matt Schudel, Col. Mary Hallaren, 97, Dies; Headed Women's Army Corps, The Washington Post,. Page B07; March 3, 2005

• 1910 United States Federal Census Census & Voter Lists Name Mary Halloran Mother Mary A Halloran Father John J Halloran Sibling John Halloran Birth 1908[1907] - Massachusetts Residence 1910 - Lowell Ward 4, Middlesex, Massachusetts

• 1920 United States Federal Census Census & Voter Lists Name Mary Hallaren Mother Mary A Hallaren Father John J Hallaren Sibling John Birth 1908[1907] - Massachusetts Residence 1920 - Lowell Ward 9, Middlesex, Massachusetts

• U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 Military Name Mary A Hallaren Birth 1907 Military 10 Jul 1942 - Boston, Massachusetts Residence Middlesex, Massachusetts

• U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 Directories & Member Lists Name Mary A Hallaren Birth 4 May 1907 Residence 1993 - Arlington, VA

• Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014 Birth, Marriage & Death Name Mary Agnes Hallaren Death 13 Feb 2005 - Fairfax, Virginia, USA

• U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Birth, Marriage & Death Name Mary Agnes Hallaren Birth 4 05 1907 - Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA Death 13 02 2005 - McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia, USA; Find A Grave: Memorial #16742298

• U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 Birth, Marriage & Death Name Mary A. Hallaren Birth 4 May 1907 Death 13 Feb 2005 - Alexandria, Fairfax, Virginia Civil Virginia

• Wikipedia: Mary Hallaran

See Also:

• Wolfgang Saxon, "Col. Mary A. Hallaren Dies at 97; Led Wacs Into Regular Army", New York Times, March 9, 2005

• Bettie J. Morden, The History of the Women's Army Corps, 1945-78; (Chapter II: Women in the Postwar Army; page 43 and 46), Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1990.

• Encyclopedia Britannica

• Women's Auxilary Corps - WikiTree Free Space