First, let me apologize for not updating this sooner. Appointments upon appointments have taken up my spare time. On the bright side, that means the VA is doing their job which shocks me tremendously.
March is Women's History Month. What better celebrate than briefly go over what women have done in military history. Women have played major roles in military positions for thousands of years. In the United States, women have been in the military since even before the birth of our country. Before WWI, women disguised as men to joined the front lines to fight in battle. Over a 150 have been found so far during the Civil War era. With the lack of records and mass graves frequently due to the large amount of soldiers killed during battle, it has been predicted that there were many women who were disguised during this time.
During WWI, the first woman to enlist into the military outside of a nursing position happened. The WWII era made great strides in women's involvement in the military. Nurse, mechanic, communications, truck driver....just a few titles of many that women could do during the war.
Do you recognize this hard working female? It's Queen Elizabeth when she was 18 and still a princess. The only female royal member of the family to have served in the military. She served as a mechanic and a truck driver during the war. During the Korean War, similar duties as WWII were given to women. During Vietnam, 90% of women who served were nurses. But, their jobs did expand. Some were flight nurses others dealt with the massive injuries fresh from the battlefield. The picture below shows the Vietnam Women's Memorial located in Washington D.C.
After Vietnam, women's roles in the military started to slowly change. Training was more combat based, more positions opened, and more women enlisted. During the Gulf War, tremendously strides were made. Women were placed in positions along side men and were in the warzone with them as well. In the Navy and Marines, women were deployed in ships alongside men in large numbers. In 1994, the Defense Secretary implemented a rule to prevent women from being involved in combat engagements. When Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom began, some units did not abide by this rule. Women were receiving silver stars for valor during close combat and saving lives. I remember reading one woman in TIMES magazine many years ago. She was in a combat role even though her job did not specify that. If anyone knows the military, it's always being placed where you are needed and not necessarily what you signed up for. She recently came out with a documentary about her struggles with PTSD. I believe I have mentioned this documentary before. If I haven't, I will post the details soon. It is worth watching. Now women in the military are allowed on submarines and all combat related duties (officially, trust me women were in combat before that even rolled out). Even with these new opportunities, women make up 14% of the military. Unfortunately, this means that women are the minority in not only their service but as veterans too. Recently, the VA has started a women's hotline. This hotline is for women veterans, caregivers, and family members. Women only make up 6% of the veteran population, which is the reason why the VA has implemented this program.
This month, thank a female veteran. Female veterans don't hear it enough. If you are a female veteran, give yourself a pat on the back or a friend a pat on her back for her service. Questions, comments, cusswords.....
Women's Hotline : 1-855-VA-WOMEN
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