Women’s Veteran’s Day Today

Today is Women’s Veterans Day. It is a day set aside to acknowledge the service of women to the United State’s Armed Forces.

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, 10 percent of veterans are female. Although that may seem like a small percentage, the approximate number is around two million.

Crossville resident Donna Elmore is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. She said it is important to remember the sacrifices women have made while serving.

“We wanted to be treated the same,” Elmore said. “We’re will to serve our country and do anything we can do to because we want to serve and all the other great things that go with being in.”

Elmore started Cumberland County Women Veterans in 2016. She said as far as she knows, the Cumberland County group is the only one of its kind in the Upper Cumberland and is a way for veterans to come together and share their experiences.

“We often laugh about the uniform changes,” Elmore said. “We talk about how nice it is now that women can do literally anything they want.”

Perception of women in the military has changed, Elmore said. She said one of the things she appreciates is that her service is celebrated as much as anyone else’s.

“For me, personally, it is nice now to be recognized for what I did,” Elmore said. “That’s one of the greater things I did in my service is travel around and serve my country. So that’s the greatest thing is now it’s being celebrated.”

The Cumberland County Women Veterans meet the second Thursday of each month. They hope to be able to resume their meetings in July.