Photo sent courtesy of Brian Martin
Women in Armed Service & Military Veteran's artwork
Truly beautiful artwork honoring Women who served.
(Posters and Note Cards.)
The Untold Story of American Nurses
Trapped on Bataan [Book]
"WOMEN IN THE ARMY"
A PROUD HISTORY
The Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. It was chartered by Congress in 1986 under PL 99-610 to build a memorial honoring American servicewomen. The Memorial, which will be dedicated on October 18, 1997, will:
WOMEN VET
11/16/98
Maxattak
I AM SO EXCITED TO FIND COMMUNICATION ON LINE ABOUT VETS.
I AM A VIETNAM ERA WOMAN VET WHO HAS RECOGNIZED THE TRUE MEANING OF WHY I
JOINED THE MILITARY. FOR MANY YEARS I IGNORED THAT PORTION OF MY LIFE LIKE
IT WAS SOMETHING THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. THE WOMENS PROGRAM FOR SEXUAL TRAUMA
GAVE ME THE COURAGE I NEEDED TO ADMIT TO WHAT THE PAST WAS REALLY LIKE. I
SOMETIMES WONDER IF THE POLITIANS ARE SERIOUS ABOUT HELPING WOMEN WHOSE LIFES
WERE TARNISHED WHILE IN THE MILITARY OR IF IT IS JUST ANOTHER PUBLICITY STORY.I
ASK THAT ANYONE READING THIS MESSAGE AND KNOW WHAT THE REAL TREATMENT OF
MILITARY WOMEN HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY IN THE 60'S AND 70'S, WRITE TO YOUR
CONGRESSPEOPLE AND DEMAND THE TREATMENT AND COMPENSATION REMAIN AVAILABLE
TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN VICTUMS WHILE SERVING OUR COUNTRY. PTSD IS REAL.
10/03/97
From the U.S. Postal Service
WOMEN IN MILITARY SERVICE HONORED
BY SPECIAL U.S. POSTAGE STAMP
WASHINGTON -- The Women in Military Service stamp will be officially issued
Oct.18 as part of the ceremonies surrounding the dedication of the Women
in Military Service for America Memorial. "The Postal Service is proud to
honor the women, past and present, who have served our country with such
dedication, courage, and patriotism in times of conflict and in times of
peace for the past 220 years," said Postmaster General Marvin T. Runyon.
"We hope that as these stamps appear on envelopes and cards across the country
and around the world, they will serve as a reminder of the immeasurable
contribution American women have made and continue to make to the cause of
protecting the freedom that we enjoy.
" The Postal Service will print 37 million stamps featuring five women dressed
in uniforms that represent the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast
Guard. The wording "Women in Military Service" appears in white on a blue
background at the top of stamp with five white stars beneath the phrase.
The names of the services are printed in black across the bottom of the
stamp.
Subj: just a story
Date: 10-06-97
From: SICKVET
To: DStormMom
You can let this out, I don't mind.....It's just another story of a vet's sorrow...
I know this female Desert Storm vet that is really sick. She is trying
to raise her 2 children alone, and she has one in the army as well. When
she says she isn't feeling good, that means she feels really bad. She don't
want to move. Her bones and muscles hurt so bad she just want's someone to
rub them so hard so she can't feel the pain.
Her shoulders are like ice and a heat that she can't describe. It's just
painful.
When she says she feel ok, that means she is feeling the same as the above. She don't want to get out of bed. She can't sleep though. Her eyes are wide open but she want's to sleep. She feels like she's going crazy. She makes the strongest coffee so she can get a little energy to get up and go, but it don't help. She is just a tired nervous wreck.
When she says she feels fine, that means she can get up out of bed and tell her children bye before they get on the school bus. That means she can wash the 5 loads of clothes that has been there for days. It means she can go outside and look at the sun and try and feel a little warmth on her face, but then the cold chills set in and she has to go inside.
When she says she feel great, that means she can go out and walk around in the yard. She can take that drive to the mountain nearby that she has always loved. She feels like going to the grocery store for the kids. She does the extra things for her family, like cleaning the house since the kids have been doing it for a few weeks for her. It means she can return that phone call to her friend who called last week to see how she was doing. It means she may just be able to go out on a date, that is if the guy didn't give up on her yet because he's called enough times and she's turned him down do many times because she just didn't feel good.
She takes her mom to the physical therapist 3 times a week. Her mom is 72 and has a bone disease that requires the treatment. Her mom don't call to see how she is but calls to make sure she will be able to take her to her treatment. When she tells her mom that she is feeling ok, her mom just says, well, you know I have to go to the therapist in the morning.
You don't know what goes through this vet's mind. She feels betrayed by
her government and her family. She feels so alone. No one cares. She could
lay down
and die because there isn't anyone who can help her pick herself up. She
hurts so
bad sometime she can't pick her own self up.
But then she realizes, her children are teenagers, they will act that way. Her mother has come to her rescue when her mother couldn't hardly move. Especially when she had to go to Desert Storm, her mom was sick but still took care of this vet's children. Her mom wouldn't let her know she was too sick to take care of them, she just wanted her daughter to come back home alive.
I know this, because I am my mothers daughter. I went to Desert Storm for my country and family.
It sounds sad that this circle goes around and around, but it does. That's what this government wants, it is depending on the families of the gulf vet's to get so frustrated and not help the fight. But I'm here to tell you, it seems like that for just a day, but after your family has had a chance to sleep and see that you did what you could even though you were so sick you couldn't hardly move, they will see the fight you have in you, they will see the soldier that you are. That is what we are. We are the sick and fighting. We are so sick and tired but we have to carry this fight on ourselves. It is so easy to give up, but we can't. We have to carry on till the last breath. The soldiers from Desert Storm that have fought until their last breath for their families and for us cannot have died in vain. We have to push ourselves and our government. Even if it's a short letter telling them your feelings, tell someone. Don't keep those feelings inside. Scream it out if you have to.
I know some of you are so tired and you don't feel like picking up a glass of water much less a pen but you have to.
If our families that love us so much can forget about us for just a moment and think about themselves, you know our government will forget us for a day, a decade, a century.But, our familes are allowed. Sometimes they forget about us out of pure stupidity, not meaning too, sometimes they forget about us on purpose. They are trying to make us do something. They don't want us to lay down and give up. As long as we have one breath in us, they want to see us fight, because that's what we are, soldiers. True soldiers. We gave our lives for this country and the people in it, yes, some of the people are not worth spit, but we made that decision before basic training, remember that. We took the good with the bad.
We have to carry on the fight. Remember the Vietnam Veterans, they carried the burden. They fought for themselves. They fought for us, to make sure our burden was less than what they went through. Thanks for listening to this one soldiers sorrow.
Linda Davis
Subj: Suffering???
Date: 97-07-03 11:09:01 EDT
From: lisa@mrep.com (M-Rep, Inc.)
To: vetcenter@aol.com
I have found in my 10 years in the Army, (4 active years which included Desert Storm and 6 years in the Texas National Guard) that as long as I acted like a professional I was treated like one. I have had very little problem with my male counterparts accepting me. I have spent 8 of my 10 years in Foward Support Battalions, which also tend to have a high percentage of male soldiers. I am not suffering , I am a strong female soldier who will not be a victim and am tired of hearing all the whining.
The problems with women suffering in the service would be cut ten-fold if they would start acting like soldiers, sailors, etc. instead of whiny women.
Subj: female vets
Date: 97-04-04
From: Killdoggy
To: VetCenter
Hi again:
As a female vet I spent most of my time trying to convince
the males in my unit and others that I could competently perform my duties.
As a female MP there were assumptions from the males that they would have
to do all of my work, especially any heavy lifting. I could not believe this!
I always held my own. I carried all of my gear, road marched with the best
of them, and good shoot with my eyes closed. I always thought that if you
simply did your job
well respect would follow. It rarely seemed to happen. The males only saw
that I was a female and therefore incompetent.
The military was not set up to accomodate the needs of women.
I never
really had access to Medical Doctors to treat the various infections that
I acquired in Desert Storm. For this I am very upset.
I certainly appreciate this web site so that I may finally connect with other female vets,and male vets too, that have residual effects of their deployment to Desert Storm.
Thank you:
Andrea - Killdoggy@aol.com
Date: 97-03-19 12:55:54 EST
From: elouer@greenwood.com (Ellen Louer)
To: vetcenter@aol.com
Praeger Trade has recently published a title that will be of interest to you and the visitors to your site (news release follows). If you would like to offer a link to your visitors to our website offering the following information, please use the following URL info:
http://www.titlenet.com:11125/cgi/getarec?gre0275957179
Thank you.
Ellen Louer
Product Manager
Praeger Trade
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
By William B. Breuer
The Gulf War of 1991 saw 37,000 women serve in uniform who, like their predecessors, performed admirably and demonstrated courage under fire. This war and the subsequent Tailhook scandal renewed the call by feminist groups and their supporters in Congress to have the military remove, once and for all, the restrictions barring women from direct combat. While some saw this struggle as a quest for equality and opportunity in uniform, others fought just as vigorously to keep women out of combat. The 1990s saw women assigned to ships, to aircraft, and to jobs previously denied them due to an easing of the long-standing combat restrictions. This resulted in a nationwide debate which, many allege, contributed to the suicide of Admiral Jeremy Boorda in 1996.
Allowing women to serve in the military during wartime has been a subject of controversy since World War I, when, for the first time in history, thousands answered the same patriotic call to duty as the men and volunteered. Unlike the men, however, these pioneers were targets of gossip and branded as "camp followers" by some. Since that time, some 3.5 million American women have served their country as spies, nurses, guerrillas, or war correspondents. Many of these volunteers were wounded or died in the line of duty, others suffered as prisoners of war--all with little or no recognition.
During World War II, the military actively recruited women to fill support
roles in an effort to free more able-bodied men for combat duty. This resulted
in the creation of women's branches of the armed services, which enabled
women to take on even greater challenges and more diversified roles than
previously allowed.
These new organizations included:
WAACs--later WACs (Army)
WAVEs (Navy)
SPARs (Coast Guard)
Marine Corps Women's Reserve
WASPs (ferrying airplanes)
These groups attracted more than 350,000 volunteers. The tradition of volunteering continued on through conflicts in Korea and Vietnam, and each time, American women met their challenges with honor and distinction.
War and American Women brings to life the compelling story of the ordinary and extraordinary women who served their country in times of war. Their largely unreported and unacknowledged acts of heroism are vividly recounted by an author whose style has been described by The New York Times as "Vintage Hemingway."
CONTENTS: A Nightmare in Vietnam; Female Trailblazers; "You Have a Debt
to Democracy"; Secret Missions; A Conspiracy to Murder Hitler; Lady Spies
and a Blonde Guerrilla; A Hair-Raising Escape; Two Spymistresses in Manila;
Cracking a Man's World; An Ordeal in Southeast Asia; Lady Generals and Lady
Birds; A Painful Homecoming; Clash over the Service Academies; First Crisis
for the Coed Army; "Your Mission Is to Win Our Wars"; A New View in the
Pentagon; "General, You Are a Male Chauvinist!"; A Plan to Register Women;
An Episode in Panama; Scud Missiles, Culture Problems, and POWs; "We're Talking
About the Battlefront"; A Spirited Debate; Fallout from a Tailhook Convention;
"Today's Battlefield Is More Horrific"; Charges and Countercharges; Trials
and Tribulations; Two Admirals Walk the Plank; The Ike Makes History; Tragedy
on an Aircraft Carrier; A Sea Cruise Plays to Mixed Reviews; Navigating Troubled
Waters; The Admiral Boorda Tragedy; Notes and Sources; Index; Photo
Section.
WILLIAM B. BREUER is a decorated combat veteran of World War II who landed with the first assault waves in Normandy. He is one of today's most popular military historians and the author of 25 books since 1982. Ten were selections of the Military Book Club, six translated into foreign languages.
"A first class author who writes with an emphasis on human drama," says The Wall Street Journal.
PRICE: $24.95 BINDING: CLOTH ISBN: 0-275-95717-9
ORDER CODE: C5717
PUBLICATION DATE: 02/28/97
Re: OUTREACH TO WOMEN VETERANS
In regards to women's health, it is important to note that sexual assault/trauma was a HUGE problem in the Gulf. For all concerned, please be aware that there is specific help available at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
There is a specific unit known as the Women's Trauma Recovery Program which is specifically for women vets and deals with war zone trauma for ALL CONFLICTS as well as sexual assault/harassment. I spent four months in-patient and I believe the staff and women there really saved my life.
The program has only been in existence since 1992 and the funding has been severely cutback lately!!
Few VA doctors, therapists or counselors know about this program. I found out about it through a magazine!! I was in the program with Gulf women veterans as well as women veterans from Vietnam.
Please pass on this info to all veterans who might be in need of help. There are too many women suffering in silence.
Ellie Kennedy
elliek@ix.netcom.com
March 28, 1996 Testimony - on Women's Health
Congressman Shay's Hearing
Testimony of Dr Penny F Pierce
MILITARY WOMAN HOME
PAGE
Women In Military
Service For America Memorial
Read Beth's story and others that made up Fleet Hospital 15...
Testimony of Julia Y. Dyckman, RN, MPH,Capt USN (TDRL)
Jeanne Madden's [Persian Gulf Veteran] HomePage
Candy Lovett's [Persian Gulf Veteran] Homepage
.
