A Tiny Reflection on Memorial Day
Because doom scrolling isn't always a bad thing
During my doom scrolling this week, I ran across a post on Facebook that said that the military history of women had been removed from Arlington National Cemetery’s website. I have no idea who wrote this and have not seen it anywhere else.
Now, I’m a military brat. My family has had many, many members of the service. My dad, father-in-law, husband, three brothers-in-law, and two of my sons have served. One of my uncles was seriously wounded in World War II (twice) and another was seriously wounded in Korea. Both my dad and father-in-law served in Vietnam. My Marine son fought in Iraq, and you might already know that one of my sons is in the Navy right now, twenty-seven years of service (so far). I’m very proud of each of them for their contributions to this country.
But this post made me wonder about women in the military. I’ve known a few but never really knew much about the history of women who serve our country. So I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to step away from my typical Sunday memoir post and explore this history for Memorial Day.
In the post, there was a link to a website about women in the military, Foundation for Women Warriors. Even though I’ve been trained not to click on links on social media, I big fat did it anyway. Fortunately, it did not take me anywhere horrible.
The link took me to an article, “Her Sacrifice, Our Legacy: Restoring the Visibility of Women’s Military History at Arlington.” It was like finding a long-lost relative, the kind with money.
Finding this article helped me see just how much women in uniform have contributed. These women helped our nation grow in so many ways, including expanding the roles of women in the military. Since today is Memorial Day, I wanted to share a few notes from their bios with you.
Anna Etheridge Hooks served as an Army nurse in the Civil War. She served in over thirty battles, including Gettysburg. One note says that she removed wounded men from combat. There are twenty Civil War nurses buried at ANC, but I’ve also seen a statistic that suggests over eight hundred nurses who served in the Civil War are buried around the country. How I would love to know their stories.
As the only female assistant surgeon in the Army during the Spanish-American war, Dr. Anita McGee managed the Army nurses. Based on her efforts, Congress created the Army Nurse Corps in 1901. In 1905, they also dedicated the Spanish-American War Monument at ANC, again because of Dr. McGee.
And then there’s Namahyoke Curtis, an African-American nurse who recruited thirty-two additional Black women to work for the Army as nurses in the Spanish-American War.
Lenah S. Higbee became one of the first twenty nurses for the Navy. She served as the Navy’s Chief Nurse and later the second superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps during World War I. She was awarded the Navy Cross for distinguished service.
Zada Daniels Clark was one of 223 women who volunteered for the Army during World War I. She was part of the “Hello Girls,” who worked as telephone operators that replaced male soldiers holding the job. These women connected over twenty-six million calls.
A discouraging note on the “Hello Girls” - although they wore Army uniforms, swore an oath to the Army, and were held to military justice codes, they were not recognized by the U.S. government as soldiers after the war. This meant that they would not receive veterans benefits or recognition for their service. In 1977, the group finally received veteran status, but many had died, never receiving what their country owed them. This story made me want to put my world on hold to write a screenplay about them, but I found that a reasonable documentary has been made already.
Sadly, Zada Daniels Clark is buried at the ANC with her third husband, a WWI veteran. There is no acknowledgment of her service or status.
Allie Hershaw served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. She worked with the Tuskegee Airmen and was part of the Six Triple Eight, the only all-female, all-minority unit in the Army. (You might have seen the movie about the Six Triple Eight.) She was the first Black woman to retire with thirty years of service as a master sergeant from the Air Force.
Barbara Allen Rainey, the first female pilot in the Navy, had to resign her commission when she became pregnant with her first child. She was recalled to service as a flight instructor and was killed in an airplane accident while training another pilot.
Megan Malia-Leilani McClung was a public affairs officer for the Marines when she was killed by an IED in her Humvee. She was the first female Marine officer to be killed in the Iraq war.
Perhaps the hardest story to read is that of Shannon Kent, Navy veteran who served in Iraq, attended special schooling that established the potential for women to serve with Navy Seals, and beat thyroid cancer. She was accepted in a special program for clinical psychology only to later be turned down because they would not grant a commission as an officer because of the fight with cancer.
Now, that would have made me angry and want to quit, but she appealed the Navy’s decision before being sent to Syria for Operation Inherent Resolve. Shannon and three others were killed by a suicide attack. The Navy has since amended the regulation on the commission.
As you can imagine, these stories only represent a tiny fraction of the women who have served this country as members of the military. I’m impressed and grateful for their service and dedication.
By the way, I checked the Arlington website. I could not tell that anything had been removed. In fact, they had information on the tours about women. Of course, this is why you shouldn’t believe anything you read on social media.
For the full stories of these women and others, please check out the links below.
One final note - rarely do you find any gratitude to the women who stayed home and raised families and worked part-time jobs and wrote letters and lived with split incomes while their military husbands were stationed in foreign countries. These women served their country, too, and I’m grateful to them for trying to make the best of an almost impossible situation. That list includes my mom, my mother-in-law, and my two daughters-in-law. Their strength at home allowed their spouses to fulfill their duty, and I am so proud of them. (I guess I stayed in memoir mode a little.)
My friend reminded me today that Memorial Day is the most expensive holiday in America. Please take a moment to remember the men and women who paid the price for this day.
Thanks for that. I think often about the military nurses and the incredible job, under intense conditions, they did. Also the volunteers, the Donut Dollies and USO performers providing much needed moral boosting.
Side note: Don't know if we ever discused it, but my brother Tom, awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received while serving in Viet Nam.
Thanks for this, Mimi. I did not know a lot of this. And I appreciate how you assign value to devalued work and invisible sacrifices. I'm so glad I'm subscribed to you.