Woman should be proud of service

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Beth Orlen
  • 314th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  Wilma Vaught is like many other Air Force women - the brigadier general has earned medals, promotions, advanced degrees and other honors, but she has never been one for singling herself and other women out from any other Airmen in the service.

But that all changed after meeting a World War I female veteran more than 10 years ago.

At the time, Gen. Vaught, the first woman selected for promotion to brigadier general in the comptroller career field, was on the board of directors for a project to honor women who were in military service in the past and now - what is now know as the Women In Military Service For America Memorial

But she didn't feel a real connection on why the memorial must be built.

"My feeling was to be as integrated (in the Air Force) as possible," she said. But her feelings started to change as she lobbied for the memorial.

"As I began to travel it became clear that (being different) meant something to them," she said.

To the women, the memorial symbolized everything that they had endured, remembered and loved about being in the military, she said.

"There was no where for them to go (after leaving the service)," said the general. "They were shunned aside."

But it wasn't until she met Helene Coxhead, a World War I veteran who came to the memorial site "to see if we were a scam," that Gen. Vaught became passionate about the project.

She came with her daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter and grilled the general about why they were building the memorial.

She took out her identification tag to show them to the general, and said she was proud to have served in the military. They had been with Ms. Coxhead since she left the service more than 70 years prior to their meeting. It was then that she handed them to Gen. Vaught.

"'Now I know we won't be forgotten.'"

Ms. Coxhead was invited back to a foundation luncheon where she told her story in front of several people - to include the U.S. Navy's chief of operations at the time, Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda - and was at the groundbreaking ceremony June 22, 1995.

When Ms. Coxhead died, Gen. Vaught went with the family to bury her remains with the vet's WWI Victory medal and the ID tag in Arlington Cemetary.

"That's how important this memorial is to women," said Gen. Vaught. "I just hope to get today;s women to see what this means. You can do things as an integrated service, but nothing says you can't be proud of being a woman in military service.

The memorial is located at the Ceremonial Entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, and is the only major national memorial honoring all women who have defended America throughout history. For more information, visit the memorial's website at www.womensmemorial.org.