Milwaukee VA Medical Center

Retired Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught will appear March 8 at the Milwaukee VA. Although the Women's Memorial in Washington, D.C., was not her idea, it never would have happened without her never-give-up drive to see it to fruition.

BY GARY J. KUNICH

If Wilma Vaught learned anything from her time in the Air Force – or anyone else for that matter – it might be to never tell her something can’t happen.

While she was still coming through the ranks, it was impossible for a female office to get promoted beyond lieutenant colonel, except by special appointment. And by the time that rule changed, it was still pretty hard to make it much further.

When she pinned stars on her shoulder boards, she was only one of seven, active-duty females who were generals.

“My line for that is, ‘I worked longer, harder and smarter,’” she says.

It’s that same driving force that took her from the Air Force to become the driving force behind the Women’s Memorial in Washington, D.C. It wasn’t her idea, but it probably wouldn’t have happened, either, without her.

Vaught, now 82 and still promoting the memorial and women’s rightful place in military history. In honor of Women's History Month, she will visit the Milwaukee VA for a talk open to the entire community, 11 a.m. March 8 in the Matousek Auditorium. The visit is part of the Federal Women's Program at the Milwaukee VA.

The Women’s Memorial located at the entrance of Arlington Cemetery is the only major national landmark of its kind to honor all servicewomen. It officially opened Oct. 18, 1997, after more than a decade of planning. But don’t give credit for the idea to Vaught.

“Not me,” she said. “It was other people who had the idea. I’m the implementer.”

It started with no money, no space and a staff of two, and grew to what it is today. For that, you can credit Vaught.

She was still serving as the commander of the U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command and was chairing the NATO committee on women in the Armed Forces when Congress was planning a memorial. The Air Force asked her to speak to Congress, but it conflicted with her NATO duties and it didn’t happen.

“That’s the first I heard about it, and I forgot about it,” she said. “I ended up retiring (from the Air Force) in 1985 and planned on my next job as a consultant. In November of 1986 I got a call and asked to join the board. I had no intention of becoming the president. I just felt that as a woman and a general officer, that this was something I ought to do for other women.”

The only other person was a woman who was enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II.

“When most people retire, they convert back to their first name. But when I started very early in the game (on the memorial), I told her the only thing I think we had going for us was my general officer rank. It was the only way to get people to notice and pay attention. So I was still ‘The General.’”

And she talked. And talked. And talked.

“I think I was averaging somewhere between 70 and 100 speeches a year, overseas and all across the U.S. I remember one month of March that I was only home for three days, and they were weekends.

“At first it was donated time and I never got reimbursed for some of those first trips. I finally reached a point where I couldn’t continue, so I got the whole sum of $500 a month. It finally got a little higher than that,” she said.

And people listened.

They heard about women who were pilots before the 1970s, and women who were POWs, two facts that almost disappeared to history. They learned about the women who accomplished great feats and others who just wanted to serve their country and make a difference.

“I got some who didn’t agree with it, but what was surprising to me is men, in particular, said, ‘It’s about time.’ It’s kind of an amusing thing. I heard it so often, I thought it would be a good thing to make a T-shirt with that saying on it, but it was one of our worst sellers.”

She eventually convinced Congress to kick in $9.5 million. She and her staff of 40 the board grew to brought in the rest for a total of about $47 million.

And the passion she had in 1986 is still as strong today.

“We need this to tell the story of women’s service to our country,” said Vaught, 82. “It was being lost. We are recovering some of it. This has served as a vehicle, as a voice, in a very public and very prominent way, right at the gate of Arlington Cemetery. Kids who visit see these women who served. They can go into the register and look up their mother’s and other family members. It’s incredible.

“Needless to say, this is the greatest accomplishment of my life that we got that memorial done,” she added. “The reason we got it done is for the World War II women and others who set the path for me when I came into service. Knowing what they endured, and how they inspired us, means so much to me, and we do it for all those who have come since.”

For more information on the memorial, visit: www.womensmemorial.org.