VA Hospital News

Your mind and emotions play a key role in your health. Through mindful awareness and self-care tools, you can take charge of your health and well-being to live your life to the fullest. Breathing space is one area of mindful awareness that can help you become fully aware and tuned in to what is going on right now, in the present moment, and without judgement. [From VAntage Point]

Faces of the Fallen: Women Who Proudly Served. This week, the portraits will be shown as a part of an exhibit featuring veteran artists at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and they will be part of my presentation on Art and Activism at the Office of Veterans Affairs Town Hall on Inclusion and Diversity on March 8. The collection will be also be part of a Veteran Artist exhibit at the Library of Congress in June. [From American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists]

During Women’s History Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Rachel Bosveld, who was killed in action in Iraq in 2003. Rachel Bosveld, born in November 1983, grew up in Wisconsin. She moved from Oshkosh to Waupun for her last two years of high school and quickly adapted to her new environment. [From VAntage Point]

We honor her service.

The women of VA’s National Oncology Program are blazing new trails in how VA treats cancer. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, these leaders are working to close health disparities, increase access to best-in-class cancer care, and are standing shoulder to shoulder with Veterans throughout their cancer journeys. [From VAntage Point]

During Women’s History Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Air Force Veteran Jacqueline Cochran, a supervisory pilot during World War II. Jacqueline Cochran, born Bessie Lee Pittman in 1906, was originally from the South. She grew up with limited means and did not even own a pair of shoes until she was 8 years old. [From VAntage Point]

We honor her service.

During Women’s History Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Marine Veteran Vernice Armour, who served as a helicopter pilot during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Vernice Armour was born in 1973 in Chicago, Illinois, and later lived in Memphis, Tennessee. She first joined the military as an Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadet at Middle Tennessee State University in 1993. [From VAntage Point]

We honor your service, Vernice!

In honor of International Women’s Day, VA’s Center for Women Veterans (CWV) collaborated with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP) for the “I Am Not Invisible 3.0” panel discussion and oral history donation. In honor of International Women’s Day, VA’s Center for Women Veterans (CWV) collaborated with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP) for the “I Am Not Invisible 3.0” panel discussion and oral history donation. [From VAntage Point]

During Women’s History Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Cari Gasiewicz, a linguist killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cari Gasiewicz was born in Buffalo, New York, in June 1976. She graduated from Depew High School in 1994, then attended Canisius College in Buffalo and majored in elementary education. [From VAntage Point]

We honor her service.

This is the story of Bertha Harrison Dupre and Elizabeth Barker Johnson, sisters in arms for the “Six Triple Eight.” Bertha Harrison Dupre and Elizabeth Barker Johnson served together in Company C of the the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during WWII. When they returned home from the war, each used the G.I. Bill and launched careers as teachers, administrators, government employees and volunteers. [From VAntage Point]

Louise C. Wilmot was the highest-decorated woman in the military and was one of the first women to pioneer the early steps into integrating and recruiting women in all branches of the military. Wilmot began her career in the Women Officer’s Candidate School that orientated women training in the military by other women. [From VAntage Point]

During Women’s History Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Navy Veteran May Brill, who served in WAVES during World War II. In 1924, May Brill was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her two brothers enlisted into the Army and the Coast Guard, which inspired her to join the military. After graduating South Philadelphia High School for Girls, she later enlisted into the military at age 20. [From VAntage Point]

We honor your service, May!

This week’s America250 salute is Army Veteran Grace Banker, who led the female phone operators named Hello Girls during World War I. Grace Banker was a chief operator of mobile for the American Expeditionary Forces in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during WWI. She and six other operators supported the American assault on Gernamny-held Saint-Mihiel by sending, decoding, and intercepting messages. [From VAntage Point]

During Women’s History Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Gloria Nell Irlbeck Hudoba, who served as a nurse during Vietnam. While Gloria Nell Irlbeck Hudoba was attending St. Gabriel’s Hospital School of Nursing in Little Falls, Minnesota, an Army recruiter came to speak. Intrigued by the opportunity to travel and the ability to pay for her education, Hudoba joined in September 1964. [From VAntage Point]

We honor your service, Gloria!

During March, VA celebrates the women on the front lines whose commitment to service embodies the national 2022 Women’s History theme: “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.” This recognition includes those who served during this pandemic, either on active duty or as Veterans. It also includes the VA employees who continue to serve Veterans in person, at remote locations, over the phone and via telehealth. [From VAntage Point]

During Women’s History Month, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Air Force Veteran Rita Abeytia Brock-Perini, a nurse during the Vietnam War. Rita Abeytia Brock-Perini was born in August 1938 in Phoenix and had seven sisters and two brothers. After she graduated from Catholic St. Mary’s High School in 1956, she earned a nursing degree at St. Joseph’s School of Nursing in Phoenix, inspired by caring for her nine siblings. [From VAntage Point]

We honor your service, Rita!

Get the Recruitment & Retention, Employment & Integration, Well Being & Treatment, Servicwomen in the News, Women Veterans, and Upcoming Events DACOWITS news from February 2022. [From DACOWITS]