Published - Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Military women deserve recognition, general says

By GAYDA HOLLNAGEL | Of the Tribune staff

If your mother, grandmother, sister, aunt or even great-grandmother served in America's military, Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught wants to hear from you. Advertisement

Advertise Here Directory
Vaught, who retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1985, spearheaded the effort to establish the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, which was dedicated in 1997 in Arlington Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

She said the women who served their country, dating back to the Revolutionary War, deserve to be recognized and honored.

"That's the mission of the memorial — let the generations know that women in uniform also guaranteed their freedom," said Vaught, who spoke Tuesday at the La Crosse Community Foundation's annual Women's Fund Luncheon at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

A native of Illinois, Vaught joined the Air Force in 1957, less than a decade after the 1948 Women's Armed Forces Integration Act gave women a permanent place in the military.

Prior to that, Vaught said, women only could serve during wartime or other crises, and had to be discharged as soon as the crisis was over. Their roles primarily were limited to being nurses or clerks.

And the 1948 law still forbade women from being promoted to general or admiral, limited the number of women in the military to no more than 2 percent and assigned women to noncombat duties only.

Over the years, those provisions have been discarded, but not without struggles, Vaught said. It wasn't until 1983, when a small memorial to women in military service was dedicated in Ohio, that attention was focused on the lack of a national military memorial that included women.

Even the Vietnam War memorial initially only listed the names of men who died, Vaught said. The eight women whose names are listed were added later, she said.

It took 11 years to get the national Women in Military Service memorial completed. It now provides a place where people can remember and celebrate their own family members' accomplishments, and can be an educational tool for teaching about women's military service, Vaught said.

She said women who have served in the military should contact the center to be registered. Family members of deceased or infirm women who served can register their relative as well.

Besides regular military service, the memorial center also lists cadet nurses, Red Cross workers, USO representatives and others who served overseas under military commands, she said.

Vaught said her career in the Air Force brought her opportunities for education, leadership, foreign travel and the chance to meet national leaders, including presidents and secretaries of state.

"I still look back and say, ‘How could it happen?'" Vaught said. "But that same opportunity lies out there for anyone who is willing to work, be dedicated, be committed."

Gayda Hollnagel can be reached at (608) 791-8224 or at ghollnagel@lacrossetribune.com.

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/artic...ws/01women.txt


Sempers,

Roger