US News

Marines to keep traditional ‘manly’ hats

The Marine are sticking with tradition — or at least the more recent version of it — for their choice in headwear.

All Leathernecks, male and female, will wear standard-issue covers that men now don in their dress and service uniforms, officials told Stars & Stripes.

The manufacturer of hats female Marines had been wearing is going out of business. So the Marine Corps Uniform Board polled Leathernecks to see if everyone should wear the current male covers, or go with unisex Dan Daly covers.

Daly hats were widely assailed for looking too much like a train porter’s cap — and simply “too girly.”

The Daly covers, named after the World War I hero and two-time Medal of Honor recipient, had been standard Marine wear in the early 20th century. But the current male covers have been in place since 1922.

More than 90 percent of respondents wanted to go with the current male covers.

“The secretary believes that when you look at a group of sailors and Marines, you should see a group of sailors and Marines, indistinguishable by uniform,” said Cmdr. Tamara Lawrence, a spokeswoman for Navy Secretary Mabus.