First woman on Iwo Jima Commemorative Committee's memory lives on

“She was as much a Marine as any of them,” said Coleen Sherwood as she fondly recalled her mother’s memory, Pat McGruder, secretary to the Iwo Jima Commemorative Committee who recently passed away. “She was the first woman to be allowed on that committee, an accomplishment she was very proud of. These are a bunch of tough old Marines and for them to let her be on the committee was a real showing of her character. She was as tough as they come.”

Pat’s husband, the late Pfc. James Patrick McGruder, spent his 19th birthday on the Island of Iwo Jima and served as the master of ceremonies for the c...