Honoring Women on Memorial Day
Historically. Women have served their country in many ways.
Beginning with the American Revolution and continuing to the present, 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 Women's Memorial at Arlington Cemetery is changing this omission through a massive oral history and research project. Foundation Office of History & Collections collect official and personal records, oral histories, photographs, and other memorabilia to help portray women's record of service and citizenship. Growing collections include a library of nearly 1,000 books by and about military women, photograph and document archives, personal and military-issue artifacts, memoirs and oral histories. These considerable resources serve as a leading educational resource on Women in US Military History.
Over 24,000 women served in World War I half of whom were nurses in the Navy, Army, and Red Cross. An American Nurse at War DVD
From 1942-1945, while men fought in the battlefront of World War II, over 18 million women filled the civilian and defense positions created is the country's shift to wartime productions. Rosie the Riveter
Today.
In Iraq, the front line is everywhere.and everywhere in Iraq, women in the U.S. military fight. More than 155,000 of them have served in Iraq since 2003. This is 4 times the number of women sent to Desert Storm in 1991- and more than 430 have been wounded and over 70 killed. This is almost twice the number of U.S. military women killed in action in Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm combined. Band of Sisters
Visit our Honoring Women on Memorial Day and Rosie the Riveter Products section for resources that tell the story of women's work in defense of our nation.