FRANKFORT, Ky. — Nearly 76 years ago, former President Harry Truman signed the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, allowing women to permanently join the military.
What you need to know
- Lady Veterans Connect Honored Women Veterans June 8 in Frankfort
- June 12, 2024 will mark 76 years since the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act became law.
- The law allowed women to serve permanently in the military.
- Governor Andy Beshear’s administration proclaimed June 12, 2024, as Women Veterans Recognition Day in Kentucky.
- Lady Veterans Connect Honored Women Veterans June 8 in Frankfort
- June 12, 2024 will mark 76 years since the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act became law.
- The law allowed women to serve permanently in the military.
- Governor Andy Beshear’s administration proclaimed June 12, 2024, as Women Veterans Recognition Day in Kentucky.
Lady Veterans Connect honored and celebrated women veterans at the State Capitol on June 8 in recognition of the law’s anniversary.
“I’m very happy to have served,” said veteran Robbin Higgins. “I can’t think of anything else I would have done or any other way I would have had the life I actually had while serving. Now, as a veteran, I can contribute my skills here to apply in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Higgins served in the Army Signal Corps from 1985 to 2014. He said when he started, it was a difficult experience.
“There weren’t any women in my company,” she said. “I was the first female officer my company commander worked with, so he always asked me, ‘Higgins, what am I supposed to do with you?’ And my typical response would be, ‘The same thing you do with male officers.'”
Higgins said serving in the military is an honorable job and that women can serve alongside their male counterparts.
“I would love to share that women who serve in any branch of the military bring intelligence, bring resilience and bring strength,” she said.
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, D-Ky., thanked veterans for their service and proclaimed June 12, 2024, as Women Veterans Recognition Day in Kentucky.
“On behalf of the Kentucky team, I want to thank all of our veterans, and in particular the women veterans who are here today,” Coleman said. “May God bless you, may God bless America, and may God bless the community of Kentucky.”
The Women in the Armed Services Integration Act, Higgins said, is just the beginning and there is still much to do.
“I encourage women to serve in the military and do the hard work…there is still a lot to do,” she said.
Lady Veterans Connect was founded in 2012 to support women veterans and prevent homelessness.
The charity said it has helped around 500 people since its inception.
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