Linda Cates Lacy (b. 1944) served in the Women Marines and the United States Marine Corps from 1972-1991. She retired with the rank of major. Linda Cates Lacy was born in 1944 in Dearborn, Michigan, growing up there and then in Louisville, Kentucky. She graduated from high school in 1962, and went to the University of Louisville while working as a clerk and then receptionist, graduating in 1969. Lacy then obtained a Master of Arts degree in Business Education from Western Kentucky University, graduating in 1972. She was also working as a teacher at that time.

Lacy then enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, attending basic training in Quantico, Virginia in January of 1973, as well as Officer Candidate School. She was then assigned to Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, as an assistant exchange officer. She was soon transferred to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as an exchange officer, in June 1974, and received a promotion to first lieutenant in late 1975. She also met her future husband in Philadelphia, who was also in the United States Marine Corps.

Lacy’s next assignment was at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, starting in November of 1976. She was assigned as assistant director of the clubs system and promoted to the rank of captain in 1977, and also married. She was then assigned as director of the clubs system, which was her final assignment before leaving active duty in 1979.

Lacy was then in the Individual Ready Reserve, and returned to teaching high school first in Hawaii, then in North Carolina. She received a promotion to the rank of major in 1983 and retired on January 1, 1991. She was later active in the Women Marines Association and wrote We Are Marines, a book on the history of female Marines.