First Lady Advocates for Military Women,
Families in Predecessor's Mold
(March 7, 2009) | 
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First lady Michelle Obama addresses an audience of primarily female
servicemembers at a March 3, 2009, event honoring Women's History
Month and military families at Arlington National Cemetery's Women
in Military Service for America Memorial Center in Arlington, Va.
White House photo by Joyce N. Boghosian |
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ARLINGTON, Va., March 3, 2009 -- First lady
Michelle Obama received a tip from a retired female Air Force
general today: Keep modeling herself after her World War II-era
predecessor, Eleanor Roosevelt.
Retired Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught, speaking today at the
Women in
Military Service for America Memorial here, drew a comparison
between Obama and her first lady forebear.
“From the very beginning, she has made servicewomen and their
welfare a priority on which she is focusing,” Vaught said of Obama.
“In doing this, she is following in the footsteps of first lady
Eleanor Roosevelt's WWII fame.”
Without Roosevelt's steadfast advocacy, women -- including
African-American women -- might not have been allowed to serve in
the U.S. Armed Forces, said Vaught, president of the Women's
Memorial Foundation.
The timing of today's event, which brought together several
dozen current and retired military women of various rank and |
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branch, coincided with the first week of Women's History
Month. It also comes as the current first lady seeks to extend her
campaign focus on military families, according to White House
officials. |
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Stepping into Roosevelt's mold, Obama opened her remarks by accepting Vaught's
challenge to revive a bygone tradition: hosting women troops in the audience to
the White House for tea, a luxury that gained Roosevelt popularity among female
servicemembers.
Obama said women have been contributing to the U.S. military since the
Revolutionary War, citing their earliest antecedent Deborah Samson, who
disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment in
1782.
“Throughout our nation's history women have played an important role in the
military as well as in organizations supporting the military during times of
conflict,” she said. “Our foremothers and our sisters today have joined our
forefathers and our brothers today in securing our liberty and protecting our
country.”
Echoing remarks President Barack Obama made last week at Marine Corps Base Camp
Lejeune, N.C., the first lady said service doesn't end with the person wearing
the uniform, adding that she's been honored and deeply moved to meet military
families in recent years.
“They are mothers and fathers who have lost their beloved children to war; they
are husbands and wives keeping the families on track while their wives and
husbands are deployed on duty,” she said. “They are grandparents, aunts and
uncles, and sisters and brothers who are taking care of children while single
moms or dads in uniform are away.”
Obama recognized members of the audience who blazed the trail for female
servicemembers, including Army Gen. Ann Dunwoody, the first female to receive
the rank of four-star general; Coast Guard Vice Adm. Vivien Crea, the first
woman to serve as a vice chief of a military branch; and Alyce Dixon, a
101-year-old former company clerk in the 6888th Central Postal Directory
Battalion during World War II.
Dunwoody praised the generations of women servicemembers who paved the way for
her.
“As you go through the history of our early beginnings and recognize the
generations of women who have gone before us, their dedication and commitment
has opened the doors for women today,” she said. | |
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2009
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