Leatherneck's Revolt

Although Marine Corporal Mary Elizabeth Burns's secretarial job involved relaying personal radio messages from Leathernecks in Viet Nam to their families at home and was scarcely belligerent, she decided that all war work was wrong. And so the pert, blue-eyed blonde dropped out of the 2,550-strong Women's Marine Corps. Doffing her serge greens, she told her commander that she was not reporting for duty, and then refused her $223.20 monthly paycheck.

"I feel so much better about myself," declared Mary Elizabeth, 21, explaining her starry-eyed dissent, which is echoed by her twin brother Tim's adamant refusal to accept either a student deferment or the draft. Uppermost in prompting her decision to renounce martial ways is her intense Roman Catholic faith; her horror of war was reinforced by the sight of Marines in boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., and "the lost look in their eyes."

Still eschewing uniform, Mary Elizabeth last week marched into a summary court-martial at Arlington, Va., in a yellow turtleneck and beige culottes. She barely flinched when she was sentenced to 45 days' restriction to quarters, a $20 fine and reduction to private for disobeying orders. Nor did the prospect of this punishment induce Mary Elizabeth to resume soldierly ways or to put on her Marine uniform again. When her case is finally reviewed, the lady Leatherneck, who enlisted straight from school in Grand Junction, Colo., hopes to be reduced to the rank of civilian.

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