MUSKEGON, Mich. — On a Monday afternoon, Heidi Zellar was headed to Veterans Memorial Park so she could show me the plaque commemorating her service in the U.S. Army. On the way there, we passed a traffic crash. Zellar noticed a woman firefighter working the scene.
"You go girl!" she yelled out the window of her crossover vehicle. The woman firefighter smiled. When we arrived at the park, Zellar made sure I noticed the woman too.
The drive-by show of support was just the latest way Zellar has lifted up other women, particularly if they're doing a job typically associated with men. She knows how much it can hurt when people assume that only men fill those roles.
"I’m required to show ID to show that I’m a veteran," Zellar said, describing a trip to a store that offers a military and veteran's discount.
"But maybe a cashier away, they ask the dude if he’s a veteran but yet he doesn’t have to pull out nothing."
Zellar says she also feels slighted when someone finds out she's a veteran and then tells her about the male veterans in their lives, without asking about her service.
"Be interested in their stories. I tell you what, that will make a woman veteran just bloom and blossom is to be interested in them," she said.
Zellar's service began in 1986. She did two tours of duty in Germany and saw the fall of the Berlin Wall. She was on active duty until 1991 when she moved to active reserves, a role she would maintain until 1999.
"I rarely ever get a thank you," she said.
Women Veterans Day is June 12 and is all about giving women veterans that "thank you." It was first observed in 2018, marking the 70th anniversary of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act. It was signed into law in 1948 by President Truman and allowed women to serve as regular members of the military. In Michigan, the day is called Women Veterans Recognition Day.
There are 44,000 women veterans in Michigan, but the director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency says many of those women are not aware of their veteran status.
"They think if they didn’t serve in combat, if they didn’t serve in active army necessarily, or they didn’t serve for 10 years then they’re not veterans. Or maybe they’re not older so they’re not veterans. If you served and you served any time on active duty, in Michigan, we consider you a veteran," said Zaneta Adams who served eight years in the army until she suffered a back injury in 2006.
"It’s important that women recognize their veteran status but it’s also important that other people recognize that women serve. Too often there are not enough resources. There are not enough healthcare opportunities."
To help women veterans, the Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency is holding a virtual 5K walk or run between June 12 and 19. Participants can register online for $30 and do the 5K on their own. Proceeds will go to the women veterans cohort of Eisenhower's Veterans Reintegration Center on Selfridge Air National Guard Base on the east side of Michigan.
Both these Muskegon veterans say the average person can help for free simply by recognizing that women do serve in America's armed forces.
"The day that I can be in a room full of women and they proudly announce that they’ve served too, I think that’s when we’ve arrived," Adams said.
They say they won't rest until that day comes.
"That's my mission for however long I’m here on earth is I never want another female veteran to feel alone. Never," Zellar said.
If you know any veteran in need of assistance, Adams encourages them to reach out to the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency at 1-800-MICH-VET.
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