This was it! This was the day in each eternal stream that each of the four young women—Beverley Scott, Margarette Ann Wells, Emmaline Ruth Johnson, and Joyce Renee Jones—would enter the United States Army and train to become United States Army soldiers.
Time stood still as each of the young women repeated the oath of enlistment that had been repeated by thousands, hundreds of thousands, of other soldiers before them.
“Attention!” commanded the various Enlistment Officers. Please repeat after me … I, state your name …
I, Beverley Scott … , October 14, 1976
I, Margarette Ann Wells … , April 21, 1977
I, Emmaline Ruth Johnson … , June 19, 1977
I, Joyce Renee Jones … , June 20, 1978
… do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
As the last words were repeated by the newly enlisted United States Army soldiers, each young woman considered the path she had taken on this very day in her life.