'Golden Girl' Bea Arthur Was a Marine — But the Dept. of Defense Website Won't Tell You That Now
On one service assessment, a note was added reading, "Officious — but probably a good worker if she has her own way!”
Published March 20 2025, 4:11 p.m. ET
Fans of the mega-hit series Golden Girls will tell you that all of the original cast were a bunch of baddies. Betty White and Bea Arthur, who were complicated friends for most of their lives, were two of the biggest stars to come from the series.
Betty, who died in 2021, was a strong personality who spoke up for what she believed in. Bea, who died in 2009, was no less vocal and determined to leave her mark in a positive way.
But before she was stealing hearts as the acerbic and sarcastic Dorothy and eponymous Maude, Bea was leaving her mark in a different way: She was a Marine. Here's what we know about her Marine service and why the government erased her story.
Bea Arthur of 'Golden Girl' fame was once a Marine.
Beatrice Arthur, born Bernice Frankel, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from when she enlisted on Feb. 20, 1943, to when she was honorably discharged on Sept. 26, 1945. Because she was under 21 when she enlisted, she had to get her parents' consent to serve.
She served 31 months in the Women's Reserve, working primarily as a dispatcher and a truck driver.
According to the National World War II Museum, Bea's file described her personality in a way that fans will instantly recognize. They said she was "poised" and had a "trim appearance" with "meticulous good taste."
She was also described as "ingratiating and frank," although she was also called "overly aggressive and argumentative." On one service assessment, a note was added reading, "Officious — but probably a good worker if she has her own way!”
In her enlistment papers, Bea added a note describing recent work experience, explaining, "I was supposed to start work yesterday, but heard last week that enlistments for women in the Marines were open, so decided the only thing to do was to join.”
The Department of Defense removed Bea's name in a site-wide scrub of diversity topics.
Bea's public personality lines up with those notes and assessments. As Dorothy and Maude, she played take-no-prisoners, no-nonsense women who called things as they saw them and often used their sharp tongues to tackle serious issues.
As Maude specifically, Bea was able to portray a feminist icon who took on political and social issues of the time, tying her legacy to one of activism and fearless outspoken advocacy. Her television career imitated, in many ways, her service career as a Marine.
Yet if you load the Department of Defense's website these days, you won't find note of the time she served as a Marine.
As part of government efforts to eliminate diversity and equity programs, Bea's name was wiped from the Department of Defense's website listing notable women and minority servicemembers.
Bea, along with other non-male-and-white servicemembers such as sports legend Jackie Robinson who also served in the U.S. military during World War II, were wiped from the website's mentions. Jackie's page was later restored to the site after officials said it was "mistakenly" removed, according to ABC News.
Yet as of the publication of this article, Bea's name was still wiped from the website and public outcry continued to be raised that important historical figures were being all but wiped from official history.
Officials have said that the process is imperfect and they will examine topics to determine what should be republished, but much of the public wasn't comforted by the clarification.
Luckily for history's sake, Bea's service legacy remains in other official archives and the public consciousness.