Looking at DC: The Military Women’s Memorial; Paying Due Tribute

Women's Military Monument

By Liz J.

A Brief Background

“Women are veterans too,” said Mary Lou Keener, with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Military Women’s Memorial [1]. As a distinct minority in the military, women servicemembers are too often forgotten in the shadow of their male counterparts. Even in my own experiences as a female veteran, people have frequently exhibited a range of skepticism when I mention my service. In fact, before joining the military, when I approached a Marine and asked if he was a recruiter, he replied, “Yes. Do you know anyone who is interested in enlisting?” evidently failing to consider the woman before him as a viable candidate. Even today, women comprise only a small percentage of the military, at around 15 percent of the overall active duty forces, with varying numbers in each branch [2].

The Military Women’s Memorial is the only major national memorial which is intended to honor all of the more than three million women who have served the United States since the Revolutionary War [3]. After dedicated lobbying efforts, sponsored by the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation (WIMSA), President Ronald Reagan signed the PL-610 legislative bill in 1986, which authorized the establishment of the memorial [3]. A panel of architects and female veterans selected a design submitted by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi in 1989, and a ceremony in June of 1995 marked the start of construction on the memorial. Once completed, the memorial was dedicated to the public on October 18, 1997. The design repurposed the 1930s hemicycle retaining wall which previously served as a gateway to the Arlington National Cemetery [3].

Symbolism

There are a number of symbolic references to women servicemembers incorporated into the design. Four staircases leading to the upper terrace breach the original wall, creating pathways where there previously were none. This symbolizes women servicemembers breaking through military barriers, paving a way for their daughters to further their illustrious legacy. The upper terrace features glass panels with engraved quotes of prominent leaders, Presidents, and women veterans. Among these is a quote from Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, which so poignantly reads, “From the storm-lashed decks of the Mayflower… to the present hour, woman has stood like a rock for the welfare and the glory of the history of the country. And one might add… unwritten, unrewarded, and almost unrecognized” [3]. The fountain, which initially contained only one water jet, now consists of 200 jets, intended to represent the sound of military women’s voices [3].

The role of women in the military, Assistant Interior Secretary George Frampton noted during the groundbreaking ceremony, has been the “unsung melody” in our country’s history [1]. Perhaps, over the course of the last two-and-a-half decades since its erection, this memorial has served as an instrument through which that melody is voiced.

The Past and Present

More than 200,000 women served in World War II, recounted Colonel Marry Hallaren when she spoke at the ceremony [1]. Then, women were only permitted to serve for a short period and only in times of extreme need. Thus, while Colonel Hallaren longed to continue her service to the United States, she was discharged at the conclusion of the war. The invaluable contribution of women’s service to the country during that timeframe, however, did not go unnoticed. Following World War II, the Women’s Armed Services Act of 1948 was passed, allowing women to fill a greater number of roles and remain in the military longer [4]. While women have effectively served in the military since as early as the Revolutionary War, only relatively recently were women officially permitted to join. The first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps, for example, was Opha May Johnson in August of 1918 [5]. This fairly brief period of women’s service, spanning just over a century, makes the mark women have left in the military all the more remarkable.

It was just a few years ago, in December of 2015, that all combat roles were opened to women. There was wide-spread skepticism as to whether women would be able to meet the rigorous training requirements for such physically demanding roles [6]. Ahead of this decision, the Marine Corps opened the Infantry Training Battalion to women trainees in 2012. While their passage rate was lower than that of the men, a surprising 35.9 percent successfully completed the course [6].

Serving in an infantry capacity or otherwise, there are roughly 300,000 women on active duty today, and approximately 180 women have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty since the onset of the War on Terror [2, 7].

The Future

This memorial seeks to bring much-deserved attention to the roles and sacrifices of women in the military. But does it accomplish that goal? The District of Columbia is home to 17 military monuments in total [8]. Among these is the Marine Corps War Memorial which displays six men hoisting up an American flag after the long, bloody battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. The Korean War Veterans Memorial displays 19 stainless steel statues of armed men on patrol. Then there is a memorial which commemorates the service of the women of the Vietnam War. Here, the figures are shown unarmed, aiding a wounded male servicemember [9].

What the Vietnam Women’s Memorial and the Military Women’s Memorial fail to showcase, however, is the role women in the military play today and will continue to play in the future. While women of past military conflicts primarily served as nurses and physicians, women today fill countless other, non-traditional roles. All women recruits undergo the same basic training as men, including firearms and

ballistics handling, physical conditioning, and combat skills development. Thus, war memorials which display women in passive, caregiving, prototypical female roles no longer appropriately reflect the present-day contributions of female servicemembers. In no way is this observation intended to undermine the sacrifices of female military members who have served in healthcare capacities. However, it is worth noting that many of the women who filled those more traditional roles did so because those were essentially the only roles available to them [3].

Despite the laudable evolution of the role of female servicemembers, there remains a noticeable lack of women displayed in active, warrior-like poses in war memorials of the District of Columbia. In Las Cruces, New Mexico, contrarily, a veterans memorial features six standing women, all in different military positions, one of whom sports combat gear and a firearm at the ready [10]. Meanwhile, the statue of a female soldier inside the Military Women’s Memorial Museum is displayed as non-combative, with her rifle slung behind her as she pets a dog [3]. Whether intentional or not, the latter portrayal of women servicemembers subliminally accentuates a perception of women as docile, unaggressive caregivers – not warriors. Women servicemembers are not passive, they are neither weak nor docile, and they are no longer exclusively filling “gender-appropriate” roles. This new generation of women servicemembers are no less deserving of appropriate recognition, but they may find it difficult to see themselves in the Military Women’s Memorial.