By Terri Moon Cronk American Forces Press Service
ARLINGTON, Va., March 1, 2013 – A living legacy to women who
served in all branches of the U.S. military honors their service and
sacrifice inside the Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.
Donated
World War II mementoes, uniforms and recruitment posters on display at
the Women's Memorial museum at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington,
Va., March 1, 2013. DOD photo by Terri Moon Cronk
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. |
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The museum in the memorial depicts the “duty, honor and pride” of
the 2 million women who served to defend the United States, from the
beginning of the Revolutionary War through today’s war in Afghanistan.
Situated at the ceremonial entrance to Arlington National Cemetery
here, the $22 million memorial offers a grand welcome to the sacred
military burial grounds with its neoclassical architecture.
Following 11 years of construction, the museum was dedicated on Oct, 18,
1997, after the Women's Memorial Foundation spearheaded the effort to
educate the public and honor women who defended the nation during all
eras and in all services.
The museum’s “living” exhibits depict
the past, present and future of military women on active duty, in the
reserves, the National Guard and U.S. Public Health Service, in addition
to the Coast Guard Auxiliary and Civil Air Patrol.
Additionally,
the women who served in support of U.S. armed forces during wartime
overseas in such organizations as the Red Cross, United Service
Organizations, Special Services and the PHS Cadet Nurse Corps have a
place of honor in the museum.
The Women’s Memorial is the only
national museum of its kind, according to The Women in Military Service
for America Memorial Foundation Inc. website. Its staff collects,
preserves, documents and analyzes the history of women’s military
service by gathering official and personal records, oral histories,
photographs and memorabilia for its exhibits.
“Although women
have always volunteered in defense of our nation, many of their
contributions have been forgotten and are not recorded in today’s
history books,” the website notes.
A signature feature of the museum
is the Register, a computerized database of information on about 3,500
former military and current active-duty women who voluntarily
registered. Each entry shows the service woman’s picture, dates of
service, awards received, key memories of her service and other
statistics.
The foundation registry invites veterans,
active-duty, National Guard and Reserve servicewomen to register. Cadet
nurses and service organization employees who served overseas during a
war also are eligible to register.
The museum’s Hall of Honor
pays tribute to fallen servicewomen in a somber room amid flags of U.S.
states, territories and the military services. A small exhibit displays
two books of female casualties while serving in the line of duty in
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
The hall
also honors women who served with “ … particular sacrifice and
achievement. Honored are those who were killed in action, died in the
line of duty, were prisoners of war or were recipients of the nation’s
highest awards for service and bravery,” a description reads. A marble
“Sister Block,” taken from the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington
National Cemetery, stands formidably tall and wide, nearly ceiling-high
in the room.
The glass-enclosed exhibits in the museum’s main
section vary by era, and among them are reminders of today’s wars; one
depicting “The War on Terror,” and another displaying service uniforms
worn in Iraq and Afghanistan with the backdrop of a flag that reads, “We
Remember 9/11.”
Exhibits titled, “Serving in the Military, from
1901 to 1945” and another “Since 1946,” comprise the work of early
servicewomen. The exhibits include World War II dog tags, identification
cards, worn photos and service manuals titled, “If You Should be
Captured, These are Your Rights,” and “Survival on Land and Sea.”
A citation for a Bronze Star medal, awarded to Della Polacek, reads,
“In support of combat operations against the enemy in Manila, the
Philippines,” for her service from April to July 1945.
Today,
“The Greatest Generation” of World War II veterans are in their 80s and
90s, and the museum offers a multitude of World War II-era artifacts
from 1941 to 1945 in exhibits titled, “Overseas in the Military,” “POWs
Under Fire,” and “The War Ends.”
A huge wall visual tribute, “The
Greatest Generation” displays life-like, hand-painted portraits, taken
from old black-and-white photographs. Men also are depicted in this
display -- the only mention of male service members in the museum.
“The Forgotten War,” exhibit covers women who served during the 1950-53
Korean War. “The Era of Conflict -- the Vietnam War,” tells the story
of Army, Navy and Air Force nurses who comprised 80 to 90 percent of
U.S. military women in Vietnam working on the ground, at sea and on
evacuation flights, from 1964 to 1973.
March 4 will mark the
opening of "Celebrating 40 Years of Women Chaplains: A Courageous
Journey of Faith and Service." The Women in Military Service for America
Memorial Foundation Inc. website says the exhibit “tells the story of
the scores of women, beginning in 1973, who answered God’s call to
minister to the nation’s military members and their families in times of
war and peace.”
Of all the meticulously planned exhibits and
tributes, however, one extemporaneous display features a painting on an
easel of Army Staff Sgt. Jessica Clements, who left the military on a
medical retirement following a roadside-bomb explosion in Iraq that left
her with such severe traumatic brain injury that she had to learn to
walk and talk again. Behind her painting is a large wall, filled with
hundreds of notes to her, written by visitors.
Resident artist
Chris Demarest said it started with a single drawing by a 6-year-old
child. One week later, he said, the wall was filled with notes left by
visitors, thanking Clements for her service. He calls it “The Wall of
Thanks.”
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