Posted on Oct 14, 2022
Nation’s capital and Military Women’s Memorial host weekend events celebrating military women and Veterans
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Female service members and Veterans, and their families and supporters, converge in Washington, D.C., and virtually this week for three days of events celebrating military women and marking the 25-year anniversary of the Military Women’s Memorial (MWM).
Tickets are still available for free and paid events planned for the commemoration, which is Oct. 14-16, 2022.
A capstone event is the dedication to Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught of a new 33,000 square-foot multipurpose education center at the memorial grounds.
At the time of her retirement from the military in 1985, Vaught was the most decorated military women in U.S. history. Vaught then became the memorial’s founding president, leading advocacy and fund-raising efforts for its construction.
The memorial opened to the public on Oct. 18, 1997, at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial officials say it is one of the nation’s only historical repository documenting the stories of an estimated 3 million women who have served in the Armed Forces since the Revolutionary War.
Building a storied career
President Joe Biden honored Vaught’s pioneering service at the White House on July 7, 2022, when he presented her with the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
As the 92-year-old Pontiac, Illinois, native saluted to the crowd from the dais, Biden stood next to Vaught as a White House official remarked on her storied career: “Enlisting in the 1950s, over the next 28 years she would serve in Vietnam, Europe and across America, continually rising in rank to become the first woman to hold every job she ever had.”
The presidential medal adds to a long list of commendations earned by Vaught during nearly three decades of military service. Among others, Vaught was awarded the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Defense and Air Force Distinguished Service Medals, and Vietnam Service Medal with four service stars.
Expanding opportunities for service
At a 2016 Women’s History Month reception, Vaught said she happened to graduate high school the same year that President Harry S. Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act. The law allowed females to serve as full-fledged members of the armed forces.
But military service was not yet on Vaught’s radar screen. She went on to graduate from the University of Illinois and was working for an atomic energy company when, in 1957, a letter arrived from a military recruiter. It said Vaught could get a military commission managing and supervising people.
“And that’s what I wanted to do,” she said, “and so I joined the Air Force.”
Despite the 1948 law, Vaught’s early service was in a military that subjected female service members to discrimination and formally restricted their ability to advance into leadership positions. In fact, the law prohibited women from becoming generals or admirals and relegated them to no more than 2% of the total force.
Some service limitations were lifted as the United States entered the conflict in Vietnam, she said. Lawsuits and policy changes in the ensuing years would further expand women’s rights in the military and make sure women Veterans received the benefits they earned.
Vaught supported these efforts as she rose through the ranks. “As time went by and as I advanced in the things that I was doing in the service, I could see what we needed to do,” she said in a video recorded at the 2022 White House ceremony.
Vaught continued this work after retiring from the military — fighting for the memorial and, the White House said, “further cementing her place in American history.”
Memorializing military women
Vaught said that female Veterans of World War II inspired her to get involved in advocating for the memorial, which was authorized in a 1986 law but not funded. As president of the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation’s board of directors, Vaught helped raise more than $20 million in financing to build the memorial. Construction began soon after a ceremonial groundbreaking in June 1995 and completed in 1997.
The memorial’s Vaught Center contains event space, a gift shop and Hall of Honor paying tribute to female service members who were killed or died in the line of duty, held prisoner of war or received awards for service and bravery.
The center features an interactive database with 301,000 stories of women who wore the uniform. Military women are invited to go in person or online to https://myaccount.womensmemorial.org/NC__Login to add their stories to the “Register” database and learn about the accomplishments of other female service members. Throughout the year, the memorial also displays artifacts and hosts programs related to women in the military.
This year’s Vaught Center dedication ceremony is Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. ET. Ticketed guests can then tour the facility, add service stories to the Register, watch short documentaries, shop in the gift shop and explore the memorial’s many “hidden treasures,” organizers said.
Learn more
Visit the Military Women’s Memorial: https://womensmemorial.org
View the Military Women’s Memorial Anniversary Celebration list of events: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/mwm-25th-anniversary-celebration-weekend-1117679?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb
Watch Vaught’s speech in 2016: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4583583/user-clip-general-vaught
Watch Vaught’s remarks in 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhva8MCURqM
Tickets are still available for free and paid events planned for the commemoration, which is Oct. 14-16, 2022.
A capstone event is the dedication to Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught of a new 33,000 square-foot multipurpose education center at the memorial grounds.
At the time of her retirement from the military in 1985, Vaught was the most decorated military women in U.S. history. Vaught then became the memorial’s founding president, leading advocacy and fund-raising efforts for its construction.
The memorial opened to the public on Oct. 18, 1997, at the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial officials say it is one of the nation’s only historical repository documenting the stories of an estimated 3 million women who have served in the Armed Forces since the Revolutionary War.
Building a storied career
President Joe Biden honored Vaught’s pioneering service at the White House on July 7, 2022, when he presented her with the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
As the 92-year-old Pontiac, Illinois, native saluted to the crowd from the dais, Biden stood next to Vaught as a White House official remarked on her storied career: “Enlisting in the 1950s, over the next 28 years she would serve in Vietnam, Europe and across America, continually rising in rank to become the first woman to hold every job she ever had.”
The presidential medal adds to a long list of commendations earned by Vaught during nearly three decades of military service. Among others, Vaught was awarded the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Defense and Air Force Distinguished Service Medals, and Vietnam Service Medal with four service stars.
Expanding opportunities for service
At a 2016 Women’s History Month reception, Vaught said she happened to graduate high school the same year that President Harry S. Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act. The law allowed females to serve as full-fledged members of the armed forces.
But military service was not yet on Vaught’s radar screen. She went on to graduate from the University of Illinois and was working for an atomic energy company when, in 1957, a letter arrived from a military recruiter. It said Vaught could get a military commission managing and supervising people.
“And that’s what I wanted to do,” she said, “and so I joined the Air Force.”
Despite the 1948 law, Vaught’s early service was in a military that subjected female service members to discrimination and formally restricted their ability to advance into leadership positions. In fact, the law prohibited women from becoming generals or admirals and relegated them to no more than 2% of the total force.
Some service limitations were lifted as the United States entered the conflict in Vietnam, she said. Lawsuits and policy changes in the ensuing years would further expand women’s rights in the military and make sure women Veterans received the benefits they earned.
Vaught supported these efforts as she rose through the ranks. “As time went by and as I advanced in the things that I was doing in the service, I could see what we needed to do,” she said in a video recorded at the 2022 White House ceremony.
Vaught continued this work after retiring from the military — fighting for the memorial and, the White House said, “further cementing her place in American history.”
Memorializing military women
Vaught said that female Veterans of World War II inspired her to get involved in advocating for the memorial, which was authorized in a 1986 law but not funded. As president of the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation’s board of directors, Vaught helped raise more than $20 million in financing to build the memorial. Construction began soon after a ceremonial groundbreaking in June 1995 and completed in 1997.
The memorial’s Vaught Center contains event space, a gift shop and Hall of Honor paying tribute to female service members who were killed or died in the line of duty, held prisoner of war or received awards for service and bravery.
The center features an interactive database with 301,000 stories of women who wore the uniform. Military women are invited to go in person or online to https://myaccount.womensmemorial.org/NC__Login to add their stories to the “Register” database and learn about the accomplishments of other female service members. Throughout the year, the memorial also displays artifacts and hosts programs related to women in the military.
This year’s Vaught Center dedication ceremony is Oct. 16 at 11 a.m. ET. Ticketed guests can then tour the facility, add service stories to the Register, watch short documentaries, shop in the gift shop and explore the memorial’s many “hidden treasures,” organizers said.
Learn more
Visit the Military Women’s Memorial: https://womensmemorial.org
View the Military Women’s Memorial Anniversary Celebration list of events: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/mwm-25th-anniversary-celebration-weekend-1117679?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb
Watch Vaught’s speech in 2016: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4583583/user-clip-general-vaught
Watch Vaught’s remarks in 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dhva8MCURqM
Women in the Military
Equality
Celebration
Memorial
Recognition
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