Black Tortoise Press Gratitude, People

Veterans Day: Walk a Mile in Her Boots

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Veterans Day is a day to thank living veterans for all they’ve done for our country.

Memorial Day is set aside to honor fallen soldiers. In 1938 Congress dedicated November 11 “to the cause of world peace and to be hereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day.’”  This new legal holiday honored the World War I veterans and the end of “The War to End All Wars.”  In 1954, after both World War II and the Korean War, Congress changed  “Armistice” to “Veterans,” and November 11 became a day to honor all American veterans of all wars.

Today is Veteran’s Day. Today I hung the flag out in honor of veterans. Today I got a text from CeCe to remind me of the day. And today I opened my local paper to find a lovely salute to women veterans by Sue Dobbe-Leahy. (I tried to find the electronic version, so I could link it here. I guess it’s not posted yet.)

In August, a group of local veterans decided to honor women veterans by creating a literal “Walk in Her Boots” event. Fifty veteran women decorated their combat boots and set them along a walk/run trail. That event led to an art installation throughout our county. The month-long event highlights twelve local women veterans and their stories.

The push to recognize women veterans started over a year ago.

Our emphasis on women veterans came abouat when we learned that women veterans are 250 percent more likely to attempt and die from suicide than women who did not serve in the military.

Bob Dorn, senior vice commander of Post 171 in the Nothwest Herald

Col. Patty Klop, Melissa Downey, Ashton Kroner, and Nicole Eisenrich are four of the twelve women honored in the art exhibit. All of them are engaged in different ways to support their sister veterans. Whether in the Marines, the National Guard, the Air Force, or one of the other branches of service, these women continue to serve as support to each other by sharing their stories and working directly in specific programs.

One of the reasons that veterans are reluctant to seek help is that they are trained to be the helpers. I never thought about it this way, but it does make a lot of sense. It might be why women are particularly affected. We are often the caretakers.

Locations for the Walk a Mile in Her Boots can be found at www.LegionCrystalLake171.org.

At the bottom of this post are a few other posts that I’ve written over the years about Veterans Day. I particularly like the one about Dr. Errol Alden because I never knew how much the military contributed to our healthcare until I met Dr. Alden.

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