The retired soldier underlines the role of women during the Vietnam War and beyond

Dr. Elvira Chiccarelli recalled the 50th anniversary of the Saigon case and at the end of the Vietnam War and shared a rich history of women, which served during the war and the effects, and their effects they had.

“Around 265,000 women will serve and around 11,000 will be used to Vietnam at all times,” said Chiccarelli in the trade room of the Chamber of Commerce of Fort Walton Beach. “They will be in combat zones, the war zones, stressors are right there. They are near enemy fire. Most of them will of course be military nurses.

Chiccarelli is a retired dentist who has been investigating women in the military since the past year and a half. She has created dozens of storyboards with photos and news clips about remarkable women and the contributions they have made.

“1964, five Navy Hilder Sisters are injured when their hotel is bombarded,” said Chiccarelli, surrounded by their storyboards. “And they are preserved, although some of the first women receive the purple heart, and when this hotel bombed fire, they defy their fire, the bombs, everything that went in front of them, and they saved numerous people who lived in this Bachelor Quarter Hotel in Saigon.”

Chiccarelli joined the military towards the end of the Vietnam War in February 1975.

“In a way, it was an adventure feeling and served my country,” she said.

The honor of women who have served has become a passion for Chiccarelli. Her mother was a cadet sister in World War II, her daughter is a major of the Air Force, and countless friends served.

It has invested particularly in the parts of the history of the female service members because they are paving their way for service members today.

“One of the things that people do not recognize or remember), none of these women were confiscated,” said Chiccarelli. “They all voluntarily reported. They volunteered to put themselves in danger and take care of wounded warriors and do heroic things for the United States. This is astonishing commitment.”

As Chiccarelli stated, most women who serve in the Vietnam War were military nurses. But towards the end of the war and at the end of the 1970s there seemed to be some progress. In 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson opened promotions for women. Until 1972 they were allowed to order units that included men. In 1978 the Women's Army Corps (WAC) was dissolved and women integrated into training and tasks.

During the presentation, Chiccarelli also emphasized the many women who were among the first to reach the highest ranks in time. In 1972 Commander Elizabeth Barrett was the highest naval officer in Vietnam and the first woman who was in battle.

In the early 1970s, Major General Jeanne Holm was the first one-star general machine of the Air Force and the first female two-star general in the US armed forces. According to Chiccarelli, Holm was a supporter to expand the women's function in the military.

“We can get ourselves to stay in the military and make careers if we wanted to,” said Chiccarelli. “She was also very large for the women as reservists. Emergency … she called it the emergency women -Aact. She wanted to get it through the congress so that we could be very large in the Air Force, the army, so that a bunch of women always got into war.”

The presentation on Tuesday moved for both civilians and veterans. Like Jean Gibson, who was a flight nurse during the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971.

“I was in San Diego and decided to join the reserves and then the active service,” said Gibson. “I only knew many years later that my mother cried every day.”

Gibson once remembered when the plane “shook” after it was hit by the enemy fire.

“We are very blessed that we all survived,” she said.

Jennie McKeon / WuWF public media

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WUWF public media

During the Vietnam War, eight women were killed in active service and over 15,000 wounded. As with their fighting colleagues, women were also exposed to the agent orange and later in post -traumatic stress syndrome, added Chiccarelli.

The debate about the role of women in the military and the question of whether they belong in combat roles has reappeared after Defense Minister Pete Hegseth ordered a review of the fitness standards last month.

According to her own experience and research that she carried out, Chiccarelli mocks every idea that women should not be at the forefront.

“There are women who are much bigger and stronger and stronger than men,” she said. “If you want to do the work and we train you properly and give you the right tools, the right protection -let them do it.”

Sandra Averhart contributed to this story.

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