October 18, 2024 - Women in military service were honored by VFW Post 8904 and Auxiliary on October 18, 2024, at the Veterans Memorial.
Mary Roberts, Post member, led the program and shared a history as it relates to women serving in the military and she began by sharing that the history of Women in the armed forces began more than 225 years ago with women who served during the American Revolution and continues through the present day.
“The women we honor here today are a remarkable bunch. Think of it. In the Revolutionary and Civil War, they wanted to serve so badly that they disguised themselves as men. In 1917, without even the right to vote, nurses answered the call to duty during World War I and served everywhere, including near the front lines in France,” said Roberts.
Roberts related that during World War I there were there long and tedious hours caring for those that were wounded and maimed, and that there was also the additional challenge of dealing with the 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions worldwide, including many of the nurses themselves.
During World War II, women answered the call to duty once again and from then on their involvement increased.
“When the armed services opened up their ranks to women that freed men up for battle, 77 nurses in the Pacific were taken prisoners of war. At Anzio, Italy, six Army nurses died from German bombardments. In the mud of Korea, 70% of the Army nurses served in a mobile Army surgical hospital battery known as a MASH unit,” said Roberts.
Roberts explained that 7,500 American Army women served in the Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and that Army nurse Lieutenant Sharon Lane, age 25, was killed during a rocket attack in Chu Lai, Vietnam with seven others dying in accidents and of illness.
“In 1990, 40,000 American women deployed for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. According to the USO more than 300,000 women served during post 9 /11 war, including Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom,” said Roberts. “More than 9,000 have earned the Combat Action Badge. Sixteen percent of our nation's armed forces are made up of women. 152 have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
In honor of women in military service, a memorial wreath was placed on the Shelby County Veterans Memorial by Austin Hutto.
Taps was then played as presented by Past-Post-Commander Gene Hutto.
