This Day in Naval History - Dec. 22

From the Navy News Service

1775 - Congress commissions the first Naval officers: Esek Hopkins, commander in chief of the fleet, Capts. Dudley Saltonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicolas Biddle and John Hopkins. Lieutenants appointed included John Paul Jones.

1841 - USS Mississippi, the first U.S. ocean-going side-wheel steam warship, is commissioned in Philadelphia.

1942 - Pharmacist's Mate 1st Class Thomas A. Moore performs an appendectomy on Fireman 2nd Class George M. Platter aboard USS Silversides (SS 236).

1942 - Sue Dauser takes the oath of office as Superintendant of the Navy Nurse Corps, becoming the first woman with the relative rank of captain in U.S. Navy. She was promoted to the rank of captain on Feb. 26, 1944.

1944 - The first two African-American Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service officers, Harriet Ida Pickens and Frances F. Wills, are commissioned.

1960 - USS Valley Forge (CV 45) helicopters rescue 27 men from oiler SS Pine Ridge. Pine Ridge was breaking up in heavy seas off of Cape Hatteras.

Veterans’ Reflections: Serving to Make a Difference

By Christen McCluney

Emerging Media, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2010 – When Betty Ann Patterson joined the Army in 1952, she knew she wanted to do one thing: make a difference.

"Women were only a minuscule part of the military in those days," she said. "I wanted to break new ground, to go where few women had gone before and to be a leader in an unexplored area."

Serving 22 years in the military, Patterson did just that.

Originally from Tacoma, Wash., she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Women's Army Corps shortly after her graduation from the State College of Washington, now Washington State University. After completing her basic military officers course at Fort Lee, Va., in February 1953, she accepted a regular Army commission as a second lieutenant, and in 1960 she transferred to the Air Force as a captain.

Patterson served during both the Korean and Vietnam wars and spent one year in Vietnam from August 1967 to 1968, a period she called the most memorable time of her service. She said one of the biggest lessons she learned during her time in the service was not to expect special privileges because she was a woman.

"In my day, women had to work harder than men to achieve success in the military service," she said. "We had to prove ourselves worthy of our responsibilities."

As an officer, she said, she learned to seize every opportunity to lead as a woman during that time. "Never tell your superiors you can't do something,” she added. "If they think you're qualified, you are."

Patterson retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel in 1974, and returned to Tacoma after many years of living in La Jolla, Calif., and Arlington, Va.

After retiring, Patterson said, she sees Veterans Day as a day of rest for her and her husband, who is retired from the Navy. She added that in her younger days she would attend military parades and sometimes would march, but that now she spends her day reflecting.

"Veterans Day means celebrating the military strength of our country so that we can remain free," she said. "It recognizes the veterans who have contributed to our freedom, many by making the ultimate sacrifice."

(“Veterans’ Reflections” is a collection of stories of men and women who served their country in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and the present-day conflicts. They will be posted throughout November in honor of Veterans Day.)

"Rosie the Riveter" Turned Soldier Salutes Women Veterans at Cincinnati

The Cincinnati VA Medical Center celebrated Veterans Day this year with a special event saluting women Veterans from conflicts past and present.

The Cincinnati facility, where 99 staff members are women Veterans, hosted the special activities as a special tribute to those women who have served their county in times of war and peace.

At a dinner hosted by the medical center, the staff heard an inspiring address by Dr. Lynn Ashley, a World War II woman Veteran and educator, facilitator, and consultant, who praised the work of women Veterans and reflected on the vital work they do today in all areas of government service.

Dr. Ashley's career provides a unique perspective on the roles women Veterans have held throughout American history.

Hers is a colorful story, which begins 65 years ago:

Gas Mask Day

It was a Wednesday, gas mask day, at Carlsbad Army Air Corps Base in Carlsbad, N.M. The base teemed with new recruits and among them was Marilyn Haynes. Years later she would become Lynn Ashley, Ph.D, but in 1944, she was simply a 23-year-old clerk typist in the Women's Army Corps (WAC).

"Back then, we had gas mask day because the mindset was that we could be overrun by Japanese or Germans at any time," said Ashley. "We had to wear gas masks all day, no matter what we did."

That particular Wednesday was Ashley's lucky day. Because pilots and bombardiers stationed at the base were paid per flight, they were eager to take to the skies as often as possible, but they had to have observers in the plane to verify their flight. A captain asked Ashley if she would be his observer. She had never been on a plane before, and even better, she wouldn't have to wear a gas mask, so she immediately agreed.

Ashley was watching the cacti and the rocks whizzing past far below when the pilot noticed something was wrong with the bomb bay doors.

"He told me to take the controls while he checked the doors," said Ashley. "And he said, 'All you have to do is keep the wings level with the horizon.' I was looking at the mountains in front of me and thinking, 'How on earth am I going to do this?'"

What could she do but follow orders? Ten minutes later, the pilot returned to his seat, eyed the controls, and told a shaken Ashley she had only climbed 1,000 feet, so she "didn't do too badly."

From Rivets to Mission Logistics

Ashley, who had been working as a riveter at a Chicago defense plant the year before, enlisted in the WAC to support her brother's military service. Another reason for her enlistment had to do with the union moving into the plant and her being a bit, well, opinionated. "I was a little outspoken about it," she admitted. "And it looked like if I didn't leave, they'd ask me to. So I left and joined the Army. I thought it would get me overseas."

It got her as far as Georgia for six weeks of basic training, which included 238 hours of clerical training, learning about the organization of the Army along with touch typing, company records and reports, military discipline, personnel administration and finance.

After basic training, Ashley was assigned to the New Mexico airbase, where she was promoted to a corporal.

She worked "on the line" at the tarmac where aircraft pulled up for inspection and repair. It took Ashley 30 minutes to walk from her barracks to the office, bracing herself against the sandstorms that sometimes swept the airbase. Ashley's job was to figure out the mechanical logistics of missions, developing training schedules, determining which aircraft were available for exercises, and tracking the number of planes needed for each mission.

"You Just Did Your Job"

Looking back 65 years later, Ashley said she didn't experience any difficulties as a woman in the military. "It was just like working any place else. You just did your job and went home each evening," she said. "I was never aware of a lot of things that women in the military are going through now, being challenged physically, morally, and sexually."

Ashley is very involved in supporting today's military women. She's a member of an all-women's American Legion Post, assists deployed soldiers and their families in a military support group, and is on the Governor's Advisory Committee on Women Veterans.

"When I returned from war, I wasn't treated any differently as a Veteran, but you have to realize that there were hundreds and hundreds of us back then," said Ashley. "Now, some people don't realize there's a war going on and it's sad. It's my mission to do everything I can to try and educate people that we need to support the people who are over there."

By Stephanie Strauss, VA Staff Writer

"Forgotten Women" of Valley Forge

Book About “Forgotten Women” at Valley Forge Is Subject of Discussion

“Following the Drum” Is Story of Encampment During Winter of 1777-78

"Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment" (Potomac Books, 2009) is the untold story of the women – from those on society’s lowest rungs to the women of the upper class – who spent the winter of 1777-78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pa.

Author Nancy K. Loane will discuss and sign her book on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at noon in the Mary Pickford Theater on the third floor of the James Madison Building,

101 Independence Ave S.E., Washington, D.C.

The event, a Books & Beyond program sponsored by the Center for the Book, is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

Many of the camp women were soldiers’ wives who worked as the army’s washerwomen, nurses, cooks or seamstresses. Though these women’s written correspondence is scarce, author Loane uses sources such as issued military orders, pension depositions after the war and soldiers’ descriptions to bring these women to life.

Other women were part of the "numerous and splendid" audience who enjoyed the camp theater and had their portraits painted by Charles Willson Peale. They were not subject to the harsh conditions of camp life, and they came and went as they and their husbands, George Washington’s generals and advisers, saw fit.

Nancy K. Loane, who lives in Valley Forge, is a former seasonal ranger at the Valley Forge National Historical Park and has studied more than 500 Revolutionary War-era diaries, journals, letters, orderly books and records, many of them at the Library of Congress.

Her book is also the subject of a discussion on Facebook. The new Books & Beyond Book Club is available at www.facebook.com/booksandbeyond/. Here readers can discuss books, the authors of which have appeared or will appear in this series. The site also offers links to webcasts of these events and asks readers to talk about what they have seen and heard.

Since its creation by Congress in 1977 to "stimulate public interest in books and reading," the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (www.Read.gov/cfb/) has become a major national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages, nationally and internationally. The center provides leadership for 52 affiliated state centers for the book (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the Library’s annual National Book Festival. It also oversees the Library’s Read.gov website and administers the Library’s Young Readers Center.

America Supports You: Women Officers Get Leadership Development Opportunities

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

Sept. 9, 2008 - Women who choose to serve their country as military officers should be fully prepared to do so, and an organization has been working to fulfill that goal since 2003. "We stand behind this belief by providing programs that support and enable women to reach their full potential as leaders," said Susan Feland, president and founder of AcademyWomen. "Each year AcademyWomen hosts a leadership symposium to provide current, former and future women military officers the opportunity to network with like-minded colleagues and grow professionally."

Speakers from the military and the public and private sectors offer their support, personal advice and motivation to the members through keynote addresses and panel discussions.

A career coaching and professional development workshop will preface this year's annual symposium, which is slated for October. These programs provide development opportunities, resources and a chance for discussion that will assist attendees in all stages of their careers, Feland said.

"In the future, AcademyWomen will host podcasts [and] tele-seminar series, which will provide insight into specific career paths, and share stories of success in a particular field," she said.

The group is moving forward swiftly on other technologies to help women military officers develop leadership skills. It's developing an "eMentor" leadership program, and already publishes a quarterly online newsletter.

"Each edition focuses on topics of importance to our members and highlights the accomplishments of military women officers and veterans," Feland said.

AcademyWomen also supports, and plans to conduct, research focusing on the professional development of women officers in the military, their transition to civilian careers, and which professions they choose subsequent to their military service.

The organization is a new supporter of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and companies with servicemembers and their families serving at home and abroad.