♪ Ana: I learned what it meant that when you serve, you really understand what it means to protect.

Gwendolyn: We're stronger than they think.

We can handle it.

We may break down and cry, but we can handle it.

Kimberly: We have to keep in mind that we're paving a way for the benefits and the better life of soldiers that may come behind us.

♪ VO: In 1775 during the Revolutionary War, women played a pivotal role.

To day, women remain an essential asset to our military.

Every woman that have ever served in the armed forces, has volunteered to do so.

Today, more women serve than at any other time in our history.

Female soldiers have earned America's gratitude and respect for their contribution to the military and to our nation.

As part of the KVCR Veterans Initiative, and in partnership with the Loma Linda VA Hospital's Women's Health program, KVCR, the local PBS station, hosted an event to raise awareness of the challenges female veterans face, and celebrate their contribution to our nation and our community.

Of the 30 women invited to participate in the boot decorating activity, 10 share their stories.

They brought to light a host of issues through their stories.

Some were light.

Others reflective and difficult to recount, but each had a personal meaning.

♪ VO: Some say it was a calling or even a sense of duty.

Others say it was an opportunity to enhance or enrich their lives.

Their reasons for enlisting is a decision veterans remember well.

Alexis: I always wanted to join the military.

When I was in high school in the '80s, not March- but Norton Air Force Base was still open.

I hung around a lot of the kids that their parents were in the military and they used to talk all the time.

I really didn't want to go to college but I just didn't want to stay at home and do anything.

They were telling me that going into the military was the best thing to do.

And, I just thought being in the military would be different, and I could save up and go to college when I was ready.

I went 'transportation'.

Loading and off-loading the passengers and cargo.

Samantha: Both my parents were in the Army.

They were not active while I can remember.

But, I always looked up to my mom and knew I was going to join, follow in her footsteps.

My extreme long-distance, life-long goal that I would always strive for but never dreamed of reaching was to work for an agency.

I lucked out and while I was in the military, I received a position at NSA.

So, I- one of the very few people that have received my ultimate dream job at age 18.

Kimberly: I am fourth generation military.

My great-grandfather served in World War I.

My grandfather served in World War II, and my dad served in Viet Nam.

I was Desert Storm-era.

I actually thought I was going to be in 'personnel'.

But someone met me and they liked my voice.

For some reason, they said 'have you ever thought about being a broadcaster?'

So, they set up an audition for me and sent the audition to the Department of Defense School of Journalism.

And then, we received information back that I had been accepted to the school of journalism.

Paula: I was a stay-at-home mom who thought it'd be fun to support the military and do my duty, and all of that.

When my daughter when was in kindergarten, I joined the Reserve.

And, I felt like I was serving my country and pretty much a 'weekend warrior'.

It was great.

And then, 9/11 hit and it really changed things.

Luckily, my children were older and I was sent to combat camera school.

Then, I got called up to go to Kuwait, and also bounced in a lot of different training events all around.

Patricia: A friend of mine said, she said "I'm going to be gone for last period in school".

I said "what aren't you going to be there?"

And she said "because I'm going to do down to the federal building and enlist".

I said "I'm going with you!"

That's how I decided.

But, I knew I had to do something.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do out of high school.

I knew that the military would pay, you know, hopefully, help me with my education.

So, that's why I went to the Navy.

I picked the Navy cause I liked the uniform!

(chuckles) I was only 18!

I wasn't, you know?

I'm like "ahh!

That's my favorite!"

Cause I could've picked any of them.

I scored high enough on the test, I could've picked any.

But, I picked dental technician because I would be able to wear a little white uniform!

I mean, I was just a kid!

Sonia: The Army just kind of got my interest.

I was just interested in the Army.

They said "you're going to be fixing weapons", and I said "okay!

Let's go".

Gwendolyn: All of my uncles were in the military, and I was wanting to join as well.

I had a little fight about it because I was the first female that was going to join, in our family.

It was more men join the military, not women.

If we joined the military, we're more secretaries and nurses than anything at that time.

I was a corpsman!

So, I worked at Silas B. Hayes Army Hospital at Fort Ord.

I worked all over the hospital.

>> Well, I grew up in San Pedro, (chuckles) and that's a Navy town!

So, I was used to the Navy and wanted to go to college.

My mother had passed away and my father couldn't afford to send me.

So, that's why I went in.

So, I could get the GI bill.

Eva: The recruiter showed up, (laughs) and was talking about it.

So, I talked to my mother and told her I wanted to join the Air Force.

She said 'great idea!'

And, she signed for me.

I've heard that they travel so I thought 'well, see the world.

See China, Japan, something besides my neighborhood in California'!

Ana: I had just been back from Colombia, and I realized that I just had so much freedom.

Then, I thought why not go serve?

My parents had five of us and they couldn't- they tried to make ends meet for us, but I knew that I had to go do something.

To go, either pursue college or get a degree.

Once I joined the Marine Corps, I realized life was different.

The Marine Corps was an awakening in terms of the boot camp discipline.

The things I thought I ran away from, I wasn't going to run away from anymore.

VO: Boot camp is weeks of extreme, intense military training that pushes to transition a person into a mature, highly disciplined and fully capable service member.

Alexis: They break you down from being used to civilian, and they gravitate you into being military.

So, they kind of break you down and then build you back up into this military person.

VO: The reality of boot camp and its level of difficulty resonates among our veterans.

Sonia: It's pretty intense.

I guess I didn't cry during boot camp.

I cried when I spoke to my mom.

You know, that first phone call it was like [mimics whimpering], you know?

It was tough.

Eva: It was not (laughs) fun for me!

I was homesick.

I was ready to quit!

(laughs) But, talking to the drill sergeant helped me get over the homesickness, and stick with it.

Patricia: I was kind of a jokester, a clown, class clown kind of person.

So, I wanted to tell jokes and talk, and the first thing they said was 'you aren't going to speak until we let you speak'!

For the first weekend, I pretty much cried the whole weekend and they were afraid I wouldn't make it.

Paula: At that time, they decided to integrate a new program, and they said 'your orders have been pulled.

You're now going to go to Great Lakes.

You are going to be integrated in at week 6 of boot camp'.

So, I had to know everything that they knew up to that point.

Physically, mentally, you know, knowledge-wise, and it was hard!

Samantha: I dislocated my knee the second week into it!

And so, I was in a holding platoon for 3 months.

Everyone that is in a holding state is in one platoon.

That's if you're holding because of your physical failures, you can't meet the requirements physically.

If you're hurt, if you're sick, or if you have legal troubles.

And so, the knowledge levels and the experience levels are all different.

It's very stressful because you don't know when you're going to get out.

I remember writing a letter to my mom saying 'I need to get out of here.

I might kill myself because it was just so horrible'.

Ana: It was (chuckles)...it was a lifetime!

It was survival.

It was like realizing that I could do anything if I set my mind to it, because I really didn't believe I could do what they wanted me to do.

VO: From surviving to overcoming, boot camp taught more than anticipated.

Paula: I hadn't ever thought that I could overcome what I overcame at that point in my life.

It's tough!

If you've been through boot camp, you understand that mental toughness along with the physical toughness.

Sonia: Eye-opening!

It was just- it wasn't 'home' anymore.

It was, you know, you're far away from what you know, what you're used to.

And now, you're put in a situation and you build this, I guess, you build up to be that soldier that they want you to be.

And now, that becomes your new home and your security now.

That's where you're comfortable being a soldier.

Eva: You push yourself.

You push yourself to accomplish their goal.

In the meantime, it's your goal too because you want to stay with what you've got.

Samantha: I... adapted?

(laughs) And, I'm like 'okay, I'm going to get out of here but I'm going to get picked back up in my platoon'.

Instead of going home like a lot of people did.

Patricia: Somehow, I just- I got it together.

I prayed, and got it together.

And then, I became one of the highest ranking people.

I was the third highest in my boot camp.

I just missed being an E-3 by a hair.

Ana: I learned what camaraderie was.

I learned what it meant to honor your country.

I learned what it meant that when you serve, you really understand what it means to protect, and the freedom that we really have.

Patricia: You know, I certainly got better at knowing what I was there for, once I got out of boot camp.

When I did get out of boot camp, I was- I didn't even want to take the uniform off.

Samantha: I remember being terrified to leave the island.

Because usually after 3 months, you're kind of like 'okay, I can get used to this and go'.

But 6 months is a life!

(laughs) And so, it was really scary to be out on my own.

Ana: It was transforming for me.

I can tell you I didn't even know it was me because the person I went in, wasn't the person I came out.

I couldn't wait to see my parents.

They couldn't make graduation, but I remember seeing them and thanking them for giving me the strength that I had.

Or else, I would've never made it.

Sonia: I could see in my mom's eyes just how proud she was of something that I accomplished and how big it was.

You know, the whole ceremony and we're all dressed up, and it was- I was proud of myself as well.

Paula: Coming home and being greeted at the airport with my kids, it was very rewarding.

I'm in uniform, my whites and my gear bag.

It's a green duffel bag.

And my little boy, my middle child, showed up wearing my hat and carried my duffel bag.

They were just so proud.

I mean, it was just awesome!

♪ VO: There are many instances of discrimination inflicted upon female service members, but not all women are affected.

Ana: It was clear that we couldn't go to battle, but I also was very clear that we all had a function to battle; that we needed each other regardless.

So if I wasn't on the front line, I was on the back end making sure that the equipment my friends were going to have out in the field was functional.

I didn't look at it as female/male.

It never- it never got in my way.

I just had some great leaders that said 'do what you gotta do, and you want to be more?

Be more'.

VO: With the ban of women in combat being lifted, new opportunities had presented themselves.

However, the majority of veterans we spoke with didn't always feel they were treated as equals to their male counterpart.

But, that didn't stop them.

Sonia: You still have, you know, the old-timers who still don't agree with women in the military.

And my job, especially me fixing weapons surrounded with males.

So, it was me as a woman, female soldier having to work harder and run faster, and shoot better, and carry heavier and be better than- to get that respect that they get automatically, I had to push harder and work harder for it.

Gwendolyn: We're stronger than they think.

We can handle it.

We may break down and cry, but who wouldn't?

But, we can handle it.

I think we're much stronger than some people give us, and we can handle the bigger jobs.

Paula: I am not as strong as my counterpart, as a male.

However, I think I'm more determined and I'm stronger in will, and I'm pretty tough, you know?

But, it's about being a team and knowing how to utilize your strengths around you.

I think women are very good at that.

Samantha: A lot of people hear the words though 'women in the military are strong', but I don't think anybody really honestly knows how strong the women are.

To be able to keep up and do everything, and a lot of times, the women are who is keeping everything under control!

(chuckles) They're balancing three other people's jobs on top of it.

It's a whole other- it's a motherhood!

(laughs) Kimberly: There is still quite a bit to learn.

I think that people need to keep in mind that women have endured so much serving in the military from World War I to now.

VO: Some of the veterans most disconcerting moments came not at the hands of an enemy, but from their fellow servicemen.

Samantha: When I was coming back from my surgery, I was the only girl in my unit at that time, and I was still able to pull in the high scores that I needed.

But, I was not running at the same pace as the men.

Since I was falling so far behind, I literally could not run.

As hard as I tried, my legs just wouldn't move.

And, they would come up, the commanders and other people would come up, and just tell me that I didn't deserve to be a Marine.

That it was all in my head, and I was just being a baby.

I had to stop being a girl, and it was just hard to have to go home...and have no support.

There was always one or two sergeants that would come back with me, and run with me or let me blow off steam!

(laughs) And, just curse them out while I ran.

But, they were really supportive and they were like my big brothers.

VO: Beyond verbal abuse, thousands of women in the military experience sexual harassment.

>> I did have one senior officer who had too much to drink who decided he was going to chase me around the office, and that was not a good day.

He made it a little difficult for me the last couple times.

There was one time when I was sitting at a desk that had a .45 in one drawer and a bible in the other, and I had to decide whether (chuckles) I wanted to take the gun and shoot him, or whether I was going to...(laughs) go to my religious beliefs!

VO: Among the thousands, a high percentage are traumatized by actions that go beyond harassment.

Gwendolyn: That was while I was overseas in Saudi Arabia.

I think I got off close to midnight, and I'm not quite sure of the time frame but all of our windows had to be blacked out.

I was attacked.

That was pretty tough.

It felt like it tore my whole life apart.

Immediately afterwards, (ahem) they called real world red.

After everything, after the man left.

That meant I had to put on chem suit and my gas mask, and get into the bunker with all men.

I sat in the corner with my gas mask on, and cried.

And, I realized that if I didn't stop crying and there was gas out there, I would die.

So, I had to find inner strength and stop crying.

And, find a way to take care of myself just in case.

So, I reached inside my bag and pulled out my mess kit which is just those old metal things.

They're like a plate and a pan, and a fork and knife.

I'm right-handed, and I pulled the knife out and put it in my right hand and fork in my left hand.

Took in a deep breath and said "I'm not going down without a fight", cause there was 10 Saudi men in there without gas masks.

So, that was a tough day for me.

♪ VO: One of the utmost challenges to face is the loss of a soldier.

Ana: I'll say the toughest day for me was...when we were preparing equipment, and we lost a Marine to an accident.

And, it was one of those accidents that you just never would forget because you didn't lose a friend to war.

You lost them because...we got too comfortable.

When you're 19 and you witness that, your life changes, right?

You go...yeah.

So, that was probably one of the hardest, hardest, hardest moments in the Marine Corps for me.

♪ VO: The military and motherhood, at times, leads to complex decision-making.

Sonia: Besides deploying, due times, and being in combat and doing all the other stuff, leaving my daughter was the hardest thing.

You know, I'm a new mom.

I have a baby girl, and 4 months after, I had to leave and deploy.

So, it was- and because I had to stay back and have my baby, my unit left before me so I was only gone for, I think, 7-8 months.

But, it was like the hardest 7 or 8 months.

That total, you know, of my whole time in my service in the military.

I came back in October and my time to re-enlist was in March.

I knew once March came along, that was it for me.

I knew that, you know, it's kind of hard to be a good soldier and a good mother.

So, I decided to be the mom, and get out.

Alexis: It was my time to go back into the rotation of going back to Saudi.

Then, I would have to have taken my son out of school, and I was just missing him growing up and I had to make a decision of the military or actually stepping away so I could raise my son.

I figured that it was time.

I did my military time and it was time to focus on my son and raising him.

♪ VO: The Don't Ask/Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 made it possible so all women and men could serve our country.

Prior to the Act, many faced the anxiety of being caught for who they were regardless if they wanted to serve.

Ana: You know, I realized that I was a lesbian.

And, it was just too hard.

It was just going to be too hard for me to live under this fear that I would be caught.

And, that was a fear I wasn't willing to stay with.

Patricia: I couldn't have that dishonorable discharge.

I mean, it would've been the end of my working career.

It was a terrifying time, and (sighs) there was one instance where I was very close to be being 'put under the white lights', and so on.

But, he was a lieutenant JG, used to be a Navy SEAL.

The people had gone to him, and said "we've got to do something about Carland".

He said "what are you talking about?"

They said "well?

Come on!

You know what she is".

And, he said 'no, she isn't".

They said "how do you know?"

He said "because I've been- she's my girlfriend".

Yeah!

And, that stopped it.

I just thank God that the rest of the people now can serve honorably, and be who they are.

You know, it's not a choice.

It's not a choice.

♪ VO: To some, Veterans Day is a day off from work.

But to veterans and to these women, it's much more.

Patricia: The fact that these men and women would put their whole lives on the line and they just did it without really even thinking!

If you haven't served, you don't know.

You can imagine, but you just don't know.

There's just something about it.

That camaraderie, that esprit de corps?

It's just- it's an amazing feeling.

Ana: Veterans Day to me is really giving thanks to those that served, and those that we've lost in war.

Those that have protected us at times that we don't even know they're protecting us, and those families also that have veterans, that have people in the military.

>> It's always been important to me because I grew up in San Pedro where there was military.

Not only the Navy but we had an Army base there, too.

I knew families who had lost brothers and sisters.

Not sisters as much as brothers, or uncles, or fathers.

And so, it was always a very solemn time.

A very thoughtful time realizing how fortunate we are to have what we have.

Kimberly: Veterans Day means- that...no one has forgotten me.

And, it encourages me to remember others who have gone before me.

Eva: The men and women that didn't come back.

That's what it means.

Gwendolyn: It means pride.

It means 'look what I've done for 20 years.

'Look what everybody else has done in their life in the military'.

And, the history of many hundreds of years of fighting for the freedom of our country.

Samantha: I appreciate a lot more everybody that came before me, men and women.

Especially the women, though.

They paved the way for me to be able to be in the field with men.

Paved the way for me to be able to deploy.

So on Veterans Day, I take a moment and I just think of everybody that came before me to make my life possible.

Sonia: It kind of gets to me a little bit sometimes, cause people think veterans and I think automatically they think of men, you know?

Men veterans.

You get a picture, without double-guessing it, it's male veterans.

So being that female veteran is treated I guess a little different to get that recognition.

I'm just thinking of my own sacrifices that I had to do.

So, you know, it's deeper than just a day off at work.

Paula: I came out with some PTSD, and some things.

So, Veterans Day is kind of bittersweet.

It's starting to get sweeter.

I'm starting to enjoy it.

I've had supporters that have pulled me back out and into it, and I sit and I watch the parade now and I cheer on the active duty, and everybody else that is celebrating that day.

But, it was hard at first.

It's, like I said, it's bittersweet.

And now- and today too, with this was- it's pretty awesome that I get to reflect on the good.

Cause in therapy and everything that you go through when I got out, it's about the darkness.

I'm very excited that I came.

Very.

I think it's fantastic and I want to do more.

Eva: I thought it would be a good idea to meet other veterans, and just see what's going on in the community.

That's why I came today.

Ana: It's very rare that I find another woman veteran around me.

And then, even being a Marine, even more so.

So, it's like for me, this was like 'wow!

This is so cool that you guys are bringing everybody together', and to hear that here's women who served in Viet Nam.

To me, we just don't honor those women enough.

Gwendolyn: I met quite a few that- absolutely wonderful women!

Women from World War II, Korean War, Viet Nam as myself, Desert Storm, Desert Shield, Afghanistan.

What a history there.

Sonia: I thought it was an amazing event, and so much fun decorating the boots it is kind of just to stand up and say "we're here.

We're women, and we're veterans".

Kimberly: Almost like a sorority, but not!

[laughs] But that sisterhood is definitely there, and I appreciate it so much!

Samantha: Everybody's going from table to table, people aren't being shy and people aren't allowing others to be shy if they're trying to be.

We're all pulling each other up and out, and just trying to find that comfort zone with each other.

>> It's been an absolute ball!

I've never had anything, done anything like decorate a pair of boots before, and it was fun!

Patricia: I think, overall, people are starting to understand that more.

The diversity of women, the diversity of jobs they do and how they supported all the efforts.

Group: KVCR!

Wooo!

♪