Margaret Brewer | A Marine Corps first, 82

Margaret Brewer, 82, a retired brigadier general who was the first woman to hold that rank in the Marine Corps and who led the Marines' public affairs division late in her career, died of complications of Alzheimer's disease Jan. 2 at a retirement community in Springfield, Va.

Gen. Brewer joined the Marine Corps in 1952 and held a variety of roles in officer recruiting and training, personnel management, and public affairs before she was made a brigadier general in 1978. She retired in 1980.

As a colonel, she had been director of women in the Corps since 1973, but that position was eliminated in 1977 as women were integrated more fully into the Corps.

After serving as deputy director of the information division, she was nominated to lead it - but rules called for the director to be a general.

Because the Corps did not allow women to be generals at the time, Gen. Brewer received her star by special appointment from President Jimmy Carter and approval of both houses of Congress. - AP