Morton had become a Special Agent from her job at the DoS as a result of her work in Nepal, where, besides doing her main job as a secretary, she doubled as the Post Security Officer. When Morton started working as a Special Agent, she had to type her own doucments, as none of the secretaries would do what they were supposed to for her.
Morton was assigned as the Regional Security Officer at the Saigon embassy. She wrote the evacuation plan for Saigon, a plan that she was not allowed to execute herself as her superiors had ordered her out of the country, because they thought that Saigon in 1975 was no place for a woman.
More on her life here and here.
I stumbled into reading about her out of curiosity about the S&W Model 19s that were issued to the State Department's cops. The special agents were generally issued ones with 2.5" barrels that had a matte finish. Those guns now are collectible and sell for a premium.
Reading those links, the thing that stood out was how the Marines acted versus her coworkers and the support staff. Marines aren’t famous for being feminists, but they understand the chain of command and respect it as needed! I’d love to hear from one of the secretaries about why this went down like that, I’m sure it’s interesting and (hopefully) unfathomable in today’s world.
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