Women’s Military History Week

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“When we take a moment to acknowledge this history…, when we ask you to think ‘woman’ when you think ‘veteran,’ it is not because we seek a ‘special’ place, but an equal place beside our brothers, a place where our contributions are also acknowledged.”

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1470326728097{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Women’s Military History Week is an annual observance declared by the governor during the third week of March to recognize and celebrate the contributions of military women in service to their country. This year’s observance will include an exhibit at the Oregon State Capitol featuring framed portraits of Oregon women veterans from ODVA’s I Am Not Invisible campaign. The portraits will be on display in the south galleria from Monday, March 20, through Friday, March 24.

Why We Have Women’s Military History Week:

Although not officially recognized as members of the armed forces until 1901, the history of women’s involvement in the U.S. military dates back more than 250 years to the Revolutionary War. Since then, women have played significant roles across every major military conflict in American history, often in the face of institutionalized gender discrimination. Some were in the service for only a short time, while others made it a career. Some were celebrated combat heroes, while others served disguised as males. As both officers and enlisted members, in war and in peacetime, service women have circumnavigated Antarctica, nursed soldiers in foreign hospitals, flown Cobra helicopters, built bridges, managed personnel, and watched their buddies die in the field.

Despite this long and rich history, and the fact that women currently comprise nearly 15 percent of active duty personnel, the idea of military service is still coded as male in the popular imagination. This leaves the legacy of women’s military service largely unrecognized or “invisible” to the general public, as Elizabeth Estabrooks, ODVA’s Women Veterans Coordinator and a veteran herself, puts it.

“When we take a moment to acknowledge this history,” Estabrooks says, “we begin to peel away the cloak of invisibility that is heavy with years of words and actions that tell us (women veterans) that we are not seen.

“And when we ask you to think ‘woman’ when you think ‘veteran,’ it is not because we seek a ‘special’ place, but an equal place beside our brothers, a place where our contributions are also acknowledged.”

For details on the I Am Not Invisible campaign, visit www.iani.oregondva.com. General information on ODVA women veteran outreach initiatives can found at www.oregon.gov/ODVA/pages/WOMENVET.aspx.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_images_carousel images=”6012,6030,6048,6047,6032,6019,6049,6034,6035,6036,6046,6039″ img_size=”large” onclick=”link_no” autoplay=”yes” hide_pagination_control=”yes” hide_prev_next_buttons=”yes” wrap=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1470326728097{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text][table id=1 /][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1470326728097{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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