Sergeant Marine Corps Women Reserves, Louise Kelly Pound

Born: May 29, 1920
Died: August 24, 2009

Sergeant Louise C. Kelly (Pound) joined the Marine Corps Women Reserves (MCWR) as a private on January 4, 1944, in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania.¹ Since the MCWR had moved all its training to Camp Lejeune in late 1943, soon after enrolling in Philidelphia, she would have been transported to North Carolina.² Training was difficult; MCWR were trained just like the men and it started as soon as they got their orders to head to Camp Lejeune:

“They arrived at the depot as civilians, but the transition to Marines began immediately. The women were quickly lined up, issued paper armbands identifying them as Marine ‘boots,’ ordered to pick up luggage — anybody’s luggage — and marched aboard the train. The process accelerated at the other end where they were met by shouting NCOs who herded them into crowded buses to be taken to austere, forbidding barracks with large, open squad bays, group shower rooms, toilet stalls without doors, and urinals. […] Many of the MCWR recruits were wondering ‘What have I gotten myself into?!’”³

Kelly Pound, however, was determined to make the most of her service.  On 13 February 1944, the MCWR celebrated its first anniversary, and it’s likely she celebrated at Camp Lejeune.  Also there, her skills would have been assessed in classification tests, her past experience would have been examined, and her aptitude would have been established so duties could be given to Kelly Pound.⁴ What her experience in newspaper work and her aptitude showed was her enthusiasm for recruitment and public relations.⁵  It is possible she had something to do with the ads in many southern papers to join the MCWR that spring.⁶ Certainly by July she was already a sergeant and was on hand to welcome the returning men marines to Atlanta, Georgia where she was stationed.^7,8 Sgt. Kelly Pound showed her recruitment abilities throughout 1945 with tours of North and South Carolina, especially after she was assigned to the induction and recruitment office in Columbia.⁹ She attended dinner parties, department stores, and women’s groups, as well as visited universities.^10,11,12 At many of these events she showed the official MCWR film, Lady Marines.¹³   

Sergeant Louise Catherine Kelly Pound was discharged from her duties on December 22, 1945.

Louise Catherine Kelly was born in Brooklyn, New York on May 29, 1920, to Henry and Emma Kelly. She grew up in New York, but sometime before 1942, her family moved to Laconia, New Hampshire.^14,15 Once Kelly Pound left school, she worked at the local newspaper.¹⁶ From there, she traveled to Philadelphia to join the MCWR.

After the war, she married, likely in 1946 or 47, and moved to Los Angles, California.¹⁷ Kelly Pound, her husband, and her growing family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico sometime before 1957.¹⁸ Unfortunately, only ten years later, in 1967, Kelly Pound became a widow with the loss of her beloved husband at only forty-nine.¹⁹

But the Marine in her didn’t give up. Kelly Pound became a teacher’s aide in the Santa Fe Public Schools and raised her children there.²⁰ She was devoted to her Catholic faith and died on August 24, 2009, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. ²¹

Images & Documents

Notes:

1. “Kelly, Louise C. US Marine Corps Jan 44.” The National Archives at Washington, DC. USA.
2. “United States Marine Corps Women Reserves. USMCWR” Women Marines Association. Copyright 2023. para. 3.
3. “United States Marine Corps Women Reserves. USMCWR” Women Marines Association. Copyright 2023. para. 12.
4. “Women Marines Observe First Anniversary Today.” News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. 13 February 1944. p. 8
5. “Sergeant Kelly Assigned Here.” The State. Columbia, South Carolina. 4 April 1945.p. 5.
6. “Join Up! Women of South Carolina!” Index-Journal. Greenwood, South Carolina. 12 April 1944. p. 2
7. “Good to See the Boys Returning – Not Going Away.” Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. 27 July 1944. p. 2
8. “Kelly, Louise.” The National Archives at Washington, DC. USA; National Archives Publication: Navy Muster Rolls.
9. “Sergeant Kelly Assigned Here.” The State. Columbia, South Carolina. 4 April 1945.p. 5.
10. “Inter-Club has Dinner Meeting.” News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. 24 February 1945. p. 6.
11. “Seek Women Marine Recruits.” Greensboro Daily News. Greensboro, North Carolina. 13 March 1945.p. 12.
12. “Town Talk.” Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. 16 April 1945. p. 3.
13. The film is mentioned in the above articles and can be viewed at: “Their War, Too.” The National Archives: Unwritten Record. https://unwritten-record.blogs.archives.gov/2018/05/02/their-war-too-u-s-women-in-the-military-during-wwii-part-ii/
14. “Kelly.” Year: 1930; Census Place: Brooklyn, Kings, New York; Roll: 1533; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 1686; Image: 395.0; FHL microfilm: 2341268
15. “Harry Joseph Kelly, Draft Registration.” The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II Draft Cards (Fourth Registration) for the State of New Hampshire.
16. “Sergeant Kelly Assigned Here.” The State. Columbia, South Carolina. 4 April 1945.p. 5.
17. “Pound” United States of America, Bureau of the Census; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950.
18. “Pound.” Santa Fe, New Mexico, City Directory, 1957.
19. “William Roy Pound.” Find a Grave, database and images memorial page for LTC William Roy Pound Jr. (18 May 1918–13 Jul 1967).
20. & 21. “Louise Catherine Pound, nee: Kelly.” Santa Fe New Mexican: Obituaries. Santa Fe, New Mexico. 26 August 2009. Retrieved: 29 June 2023.  https://www.newspapers.com/image/208042071  sec. A p.10.

Featured Image:
“Seek Women Marine Recruits.” Greensboro Daily News. Greensboro, North Carolina. 13 March 1945. Retrieved: 7 July 2023. https://www.newspapers.com/image/938110110

Prepared by Allegra E Hernandez, Ph.D.

DVA, Veterans Legacy Memorial