TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO-WAWV) — According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in 2020 there were two million living female veterans in the U.S. In Terre Haute, there’s a program called Project In Her Boots. It gives some of those female veterans a chance to decorate combat boots, and so much more.
It may seem like a simple act, but the decorating of these combat boots means a lot to these female veterans. The boots are displayed around the city during the week of Veterans Day when he started Project In Her Boots as a way to honor these women.
Gwen Hicks started the project.
“Women veterans don’t get acknowledgment that they deserve and deserve and so we brought them together. We’re bringing them together to let them share their memories with everyone with each other,” said Hicks
Helen Irvine served for six years in the Army National Guard and was deployed to Iraq in the year of 2009.
“This allows female veterans a chance to get together and meet each other and decorate and talk and eat lunch,” said Irvine.
Robin Ford was a master sergeant in the U.S. Army.
“Women are the backbone of everything in this nation and they don’t get the recognition that they need,” said Ford.
Samantha Thurston was in the Army National Guard and in the U.S. Army.
“This is more than just decorating, it is people getting together to talk about certain things, but also to help one another get through some stuff,” said Thurston.
Stacey Boeham was a PFC in the Indiana National Guard.
“It’s harder to peg us when we’re walking down the street, you don’t hear people say, I bet they were in the military. Whether it’s male or female, we all deserve the same recognition,” said Boeham.
Wendy McCullough was in the United States Navy.
“We could do better with recognizing female veterans with our contributions because we are highly overlooked. I just think that there needs to be more awareness of that,” said McCullough.
Helen Jones was in the Army.
“My husband and I went to the VA in Indianapolis a couple years ago to get our flu shot and I always try to wear a veteran hat and they came out with the women veteran hat a pink one and I wore it. The hospital told me to go ahead and the nurse was sitting there to give me my shot. She asked. Are you a veteran? And I pointed to my hat that said “woman veteran” and she said oh, I thought that was your husband,” said Jones.
Marcia Stievenart was an E4 sergeant in the U.S. Air Force.
“I kind of got emotional because my grandfather. He served in the military and he was part of the Normandy so that’s where all the tradition started,” said Stievenart.
“No woman has ever been drafted. Every woman who has served has stepped up to serve her country,” said Gwen Hicks.
Hicks hopes the program will spread across the country.
