"Because there was animosity towards the Wall, they commissioned an artist named Frederick Hart. They wanted a more heroic statue of men. I went out for the dedication in 1984 and President Reagan never mentioned the women once. He said, “Now we have finally recognized the men in Vietnam.” The whole talk was the men, the men, the men. It occurred to me that if there’s a statue of men and none of women, no one will ever know about the women who served in Vietnam.

We stood on shoulders that preceded us and the Vietnam women and men opened a lot of doors for the next generation of women. We proved that though we were in a combat zone, we weren’t shrinking violets."