VA Medical Center hosts Women Veterans Day ceremony

ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — On Tuesday, the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center honored women who wore our Nation's uniform and fought for their country.

The medical center hosted a Women Veterans Appreciation Day ahead of Women Veterans Day which is recognized on June 12.

Retired Brigadier General Maureen Weigl said that the day is to recognize women that stepped up and took every job available to them, even though they weren't paid or seen as equal.

"Women have been told that their service wasn't relevant, that being a nurse wasn't relevant, being a cook or a laundress or a support service didn't make you a real veteran. And for a long time the VA didn't recognize folks without wartime service. And today that has changed for men and it's changed for women," Weigl, Deputy Adjutant General of Veterans Affairs said.

More than 70 years ago on June 12, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act into law. For the first time, it allowed women to serve as regular members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

Kathy Silvia is someone who was able to take advantage of that law. Silvia was one of only 62 women in the first co-ed graduating class of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

"It makes you reach so, you know, no matter if it's Army, Air Force, Marines, you serve the nation, they will make you reach. They will, they will make the best person out of you just by testing and by challenging you. So that's, it's there for the wanting," Silvia, a U.S. Army Veteran said.

2 million women veterans are in the United States, and of that number, only 30% of them go to the VA or services. That's why the appreciation day is also used as outreach, to bring more wome n to the VA to access care and benefits, just like the men.

"Women that were in World War Two or Korean War. They may have been turned away in the past, but come. The criteria to get the services that the VA has changed through the years. So though you may have been turned away in the past, please give us another chance and come and let's check into things for you. We want our female veterans to come to us first for its services," said Susan Yohn, Woman Veterans Program Manager for the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center.

If you are a women veteran or you know of one that needs care, contact Susan Yohn at 814-913-8164, ext. 18155 or visit their website.