Joanna Gero, Van Zandt VA Medical Center dietician, sings the national anthem during the center’s Women Veterans Recognition Day event on Tuesday.Mirror photo by William Kibler
When Maureen Weigl was a Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet in the early 1990s, jumping out of an airplane for the first time as the only female aboard, all the other jumpers took turns tightening the straps of her equipment — a job that normally one team leader would perform.
It was clearly harassment or an attempt at copping a “cheap thrill,” but in the military at that time, Weigl had little choice but to accept it, in an effort to get along.
Ten years later, as part of the teaching staff for the ROTC program at Penn State, Weigl encountered a Playboy-style poster on the wall of a fellow instructor’s cubicle, but instead of accepting it, she called him out, and the poster was soon removed, with the instructor apologizing for the offense.
Separated by just a decade, those events help illustrate the progress women have made as service members, according to Weigl, now deputy adjutant general for veterans affairs in Pennsylvania — and keynote speaker Tuesday at Van Zandt VA Medical Center’s Women Veterans Recognition Day ceremony.
“We’ve earned this day,” Brigadier Gen. Weigl told the women in the audience who have served, including some from as far back as the Korean and the Vietnam wars. “Be unapologetic.”
“This day” is actually today, the anniversary of the June 12, 1948, Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, which enabled women to serve as permanent, regular members of all the branches of the armed forces — itself one of the steps in a progress that continues, according to an online source and officials at Tuesday’s event.
Women have been involved with the U.S. military from the beginning, according to Weigl.
During the Revolutionary War, some walked side-by-side with their spouses, making sure they were fed, their uniforms were mended and if necessary, that they received nursing care, Weigl said. Some women even disguised themselves as men and fought, she added.
During the Civil War, about 1,000 fought in male disguise — a phenomenon that occurred on both sides — while about 3,000 served as nurses, Weigl said.
In 1901, the nation established the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, and during World War I, 3,000 nurses went to Britain to serve, she said.
“Women recognized the need and stepped up,” even though they didn’t yet have the right to vote, Weigl said.
They got little recognition, few benefits and not much pay, but they decided to serve anyway, she said.
In World War II, “more things opened up,” Weigl said.
There were the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), the Women’s Army Corps (WACs), the Women’s Reserve (Navy WAVEs) and the Marine Corps Women’s Reserves, who all served in support roles at home and abroad, she said.
Weigl said 432 U.S. women were killed and 88 taken prisoner during World War II.
By the time the war was over, the nation recognized that women were an “integral part” of the military, she said.
It contrasted with the end of World War I, when the military basically said, “Thank you, ladies, you can go home now,” Weigl said.
The Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was passed a few years after the war, because the military needed women, she said.
During the Korean War, women were part of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units for the first time, she said.
And in the Vietnam War, 11,000 women were sent to that country, she said.
By the end of the Vietnam war, women were fully integrated into the service, no longer limited to dedicated special units, she said.
There was also a recognition that women should not earn less, she said.
Around that time, women who became pregnant were permitted to remain, she said. And in 1975, they became eligible to attend the service academies.
Andrea Lee Hollen of Altoona was the first woman to graduate from West Point, in 1980.
The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s “really opened things up,” according to Weigl.
Under President Bill Clinton, women were permitted some combat-related roles, including becoming fighter pilots and supporting the infantry.
In 2013, the nation opened all military roles to women, including those in elite special forces, she said.
There were lots of “firsts,” and there are other firsts to come, she said.
“Every time something opened to women, we seized the opportunity,” Weigl said.
Given that 17% of active duty service members are women, they are critical for maintaining an all-volunteer force, Weigl said.
Everyone with children and grandchildren ought to be grateful for that, she said.
There was a time about a decade ago when issues of acceptance led Weigl to think of getting out.
But “you can’t fix it if you get out,” a senior officer told her.
People like her need to be grateful for the “trailblazers” — women who broke the barriers when they were even higher, Weigl said.
“So many endured far more than I did,” she said.
It wasn’t always fun for them, because there was minimization, harassment and demeaning, before there was equality, she said.
“But we have to be vigilant,” she said. “What has been given to us can be taken away.”
Weigl joined ROTC after enrolling at the University of Pittsburgh, seeing the service as a replacement for athletic competition she missed from her time running cross country and playing basketball and softball at Dunmore High School in northeast Pennsylvania, she said.
Women are the fastest growing segment of the veteran population, with about 30% enrolled for VA services, and the VA is looking to increase that percentage, according to Susan Yohn, women veteran program manager at the hospital, who spoke at the event.
The VA has a lot to offer, including many women-specific services, Yohn said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.
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