How We Remember
Are they forgotten? This Memorial Day, as you take a moment and think about the reason for the holiday, I challenge you to take a look at who comes to your mind when thinking about Memorial Day. For the most part, Memorial Day brings up images young men who gave their lives in service to our country. And rightly so. Many have.
But I also hope you will take a minute to honor the many women who have died in service to our nation. There have been deaths of women in every war since our nation began, even before women could legally serve in the military. As women have never been drafted, every woman who has served in the U.S. military has done so voluntarily. Some of these women may never see recognition as their information was just not tracked at the time such as during the Revolutionary War or Civil War nor was their service recognized. There were the “Hello Girls” who worked near the front lines of France but would not be recognized for their service until 1979. Others, such as the 38 Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) who were killed during World War II were not granted military status until 1977 nor awarded the Congressional Gold Medal until 2010.
Many of us do not even realize just how many women have served in the U.S. military. In World War I, 3,000 women nurses served overseas and about 12,000 women Navy “yeomanettes” served in clerical duties replacing the men who were sent overseas. According to The National WWII Museum, between 1941–1945, 358,047 women served. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 265,000 women served in the military with 11,000 of those women serving in Vietnam. By the Gulf War, more women served than at any previous time in U.S. history.
As more military service roles are opened to women, so do the rates of deaths in combat rise. According to a July 2020 report of the Congressional Research Service, 198 active duty service women have been killed in combat theater operations.
To the 17 percent of our current military service comprised of women, I hope you recognize you are a part of a long history and tradition of military service and while your sacrifice has not traditionally been focused on, I make you this promise, that there are highly motivated advocates out there fighting such as Andrea Goldstein, Joy Ilem, Ashleigh Byrnes, Tammy Barlet, Kaitlynne Hetrick, Kate Hendricks Thomas, Melissa Bryant, Kelly Kennedy, Kayla Williams, Ginger Miller, Kate Watson, Lindsay Church, Tammy Jones, René Campos, Ashley Gorbulja-Maldonado, Pyhllis Wilson, myself and many others to make sure your legacies are not forgotten and your histories are saved.
And if you have not taken the time to enter your story, or the story of your loved on in the National Military Women’s Memorial HERE and ensure these stories are never forgotten.
If you would like to read other articles on women killed during war, here are a few I recommend:
https://cmrlink.org/sitrep/full/grim-toll-of-military-women-killed-in-war
https://www.uso.org/stories/3005-over-200-years-of-service-the-history-of-women-in-the-us-military
