Submitted by the Aiken (S.C.) Chapter

To celebrate National Women Veterans Day, the Aiken (S.C.) Chapter held its inaugural Sisters in Service luncheon on June 12.

Organized by Col. Lynda Mann, USA (Ret), chapter first vice president, and her committee, the event honored women veterans from all services, ranks, and eras. Mann founded Sisters in Service while living in Washington, D.C., and wanted to replicate the event in Aiken. The audience of 75 included women veterans, female Junior ROTC cadets, and Aiken residents.

Women Veterans Day commemorates the anniversary of the day President Harry S. Truman signed into law the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act on June 12, 1948. Prior to that, only women nurses could serve in the regular and reserve forces during peacetime. The first Women Veterans Day was celebrated June 12, 2008, and is commemorated in several states, including South Carolina.

[RELATED: Inside the Military Women’s Memorial]

Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, USAF (Ret), who served as 14th commander of U.S. Transportation Command, was the event’s keynote speaker. 

Attendees received a bookmark inscribed with “Let Freedom Ring,” each individually handcrafted by Barbara Fusia, whose mother was in the first Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps class during World War II. Former Army Capt. Linda Caldwell, past president of MOAA’s South Carolina Council of Chapters, worked with a graphic arts class at the University of South Carolina Aiken to develop a Sisters in Service logo.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued a proclamation for Women Veterans Day, which was presented to Mann and the Sisters in Service committee by state Reps. Bill Taylor and Charlie Hartz.

Plans are underway to make this an annual event.