WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than 160- veterans that served from the Vietnam War to present day, took part in an Honor Flight. They spend an entire day visiting monuments and memorials in our nation’s capital as a way to honor and celebrate them for their service. But this Honor Flight was very special in its own way. It was the nation’s largest all-women veterans Honor Flight.
“I was stationed in San Antonio, Texas for training and then most of my time was up in Washington across the water from Seattle at a nuclear submarine base,” said Maranda Charlebois, Navy veteran, 2013- 2017.
“I was stationed in Germany from 2002 to 2005,” said Tracy Hicks, Army veteran, 2001- 2005. “During that time, I was deployed to multiple places. I was in Kosovo, I was in Iraq for 15 months, Hungary, just all over the place.”
Charlebois and Hicks are part of the Upper Peninsula Honor Flight, which flies veterans to Washington, D.C. for a day. They get to visit monuments and memorials dedicated to veterans like them as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for their service. But this is a unique Honor Flight. We’re told it’s the largest all-women veterans Honor Flight in the nation. They brought 166 women veterans to D.C. who have served our country from Vietnam to present day.
“It was just an awesome experience to get chosen because they get more than a thousand people that applied,” said Charlebois.
These veterans got a chance to visit places like the National Mall and the Military Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, which was something many of them looked forward to.
“I remember when they were starting to build it and create it and I thought it was time for them to pay tribute to the unsung heroes that people just forget about,” said Hicks.
According to the Military Women’s Memorial, three-million women have served in or with the armed forces since the American Revolution. Women have played pivotal roles during their service, from spying, to military manufacturing and combat. Women’s roles in the military have significantly evolved over time.
“When you think about serving in our all-recruited United States military, the importance of our young men and women to volunteer and step up and serve our country whether it’s a time of peace or a time of war, it’s what makes us great as a country,” said Rep. Jack Bergman (R- MI).
Bergman, who is one of the highest-ranking veterans serving in congress. He is proud that the nation’s largest all-women veterans Honor Flight is from his district.
“And what we have here today is a whole plane load of really great women service members,” added Rep. Bergman.
For these veterans, this was a trip of a lifetime.
“It was a really great honor to be chosen to come on the biggest one in the nation for female veterans,” said Charlesbois.