Nov
23
Women In Coast Guard (SPARS)
SPARS was the United States Coast Guard Women's Reserve created on 23 November 1942 with the signing of Public Law 773 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The name is a contraction of the Coast Guard motto Semper Paratus and its English translation, "Always Ready." The name also refers to a spar in nautical usage. Like the other women's reserves such as the Women's Army Corps and the WAVES, it was created to free men from stateside service in order to fight overseas. Its first director was Captain Dorothy C. Stratton and she is credited with creating the name for the organization. The cutter USCGC Spar (WLB-206) is named after the SPARS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Coast_Guard#Women_in_the_Coast_Guard