I just put up the new video The Voice, Women at War. If you want to learn some history of women in war time, it will open your eyes. They were not all just "nurses" as some fools want to believe. A lot of them made history. The video is on the right side of the blog.
Women have fought in war since before the days of Joan of Arc.
She led the French army army at 17 and died at only 19 years old in 1431 when
the court convicted her of heresy and she was burned at the stake by the English.
Robert Shirtliffe, born Deborah Samson, joined the Army in October of 1778 at Plymouth Massachusetts for the whole term of the war and served in the company of Captain Nathan Thayer of Medway, Massachusetts for three years.
Clara Barton worked in the Civil War, first collecting medical supplies and then on the battlefield and in hospitals. She went on to found the American Red Cross.
The population of women veterans numbered 1,731,125 as of 2006
Alabama 31,678
Alaska 6,950
Arizona 43,212
Arkansas 18,143
California 164,810
Colorado 36,294
Connecticut 14,722
Delaware 5,940
District of Columbia 3,261
Florida 132,723
Georgia 69,718
Hawaii 8,478
Idaho 9,660
Illinois 53,468
Indiana 32,620
Iowa 13,865
Kansas 16,137
Kentucky 22,468
Louisiana 27,526
Maine 9,358
Maryland 44,078
Massachusetts 28,096
Michigan 48,188
Minnesota 23,166
Mississippi 18,339
Missouri 35,370
Montana 7,114
Nebraska 10,899
Nevada 19,574
New Hampshire 8,382
New Jersey 30,478
New Mexico 14,742
New York 66,730
North Carolina 61,420
North Dakota 3,622
Ohio 63,256
Oklahoma 24,137
Oregon 25,401
Pennsylvania 63,279
Puerto Rico 7,086
Rhode Island 5,393
South Carolina 32,702
South Dakota 5,063
Tennessee 37,911
Texas 134,949
Utah 9,290
Vermont 3,750
Virginia 75,129
Washington 50,385
West Virginia 10,650
Wisconsin 27,571
Wyoming 3,866
Source: Department of Veterans Affairs, VetPop0
While some people, men mostly, want to say women are only nurses, they need to take a look at the history of women who have in fact fought for this country. As for the "nurse" comment they love to make I'd like to see what would happen if they were not willing to go into a combat zone to take care of the wounded.
Women are as important in times of war as males are. What makes all of this worse for them is that they not only suffer the same kinds of trauma as males do, too many of them suffer sexual trauma.
Take a look at this video and if you do need the strength in numbers of the women veterans, you are heading for a real eye opener because they are getting organized. They are no longer going to accept being treated as anything less than a veteran.
The United Female Veterans of America is having a meeting in June in St. Louis. I did this video for them. If you are a female veteran, make sure you attend this meeting and find others who were willing to serve, did serve and see what other heroes look like. This nation if filled with them from the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, National Guards and all the wars this nation has engaged in. Some are wounded, some have medals but as with the saying about Vietnam, "All gave some, some gave all."
I will be at the meeting on June 27th and look forward to seeing as many women who have served as possible. I want to shake your hand and say thank you. I am not a veteran. I'm married to a Vietnam veteran and he's the reason I got into all of this 25 years ago. All of you have captured my heart.
Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.orgwww.Namguardianangel.blogspot.comwww.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
