National Women Veterans Recognition Day honors women warriors

Written By: Braden Harper

(OKMULGEE, Okla.) Hamburger patties were sizzling on the grill at the Muscogee Nation Veterans Affairs office on June 12. The hamburgers were served at a cookout hosted by the department for their annual monthly gathering for veterans. The cookout was also held in honor of National Women Veterans Recognition Day, a celebration that honors the women who have served in the armed forces.

Read this story on Mvskoke Media here. 

Women Veterans Recognition Day is not a separate Veterans Day for women, but rather it commemorates the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act signed into law on June 12, 1948. Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill released a proclamation declaring June 12 as “Women Veterans Recognition Day.” The proclamation reads:

Whereas, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is a sovereign Nation and as such seeks to honor military women for their service and sacrifice; and whereas, on June 12, 1948, Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was signed and this act granted women a permanent place and an opportunity for a career in the United States military; and whereas, women Veterans deserve the support and respect they have earned through their service and there is so much history about women Veterans to be told; and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Muscogee (Creek) Nation Veterans Affairs Department honors the invaluable contributions of women veterans and we applaud past, present, and future sacrifices they make.

Perspectives from Mvskoke Women Veterans

MCN Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program Manager Tacia Berryhill (Mvskoke) is an Army veteran and served in the armed forces from 2002 to 2010. Berryhill’s paternal grandfather, Kenneth Berryhill, served in the Marines, and Berryhill enlisted to keep a promise to her grandfather, Thomas Walker, who was also an Army veteran.  Berryhill served in the War in Iraq and the War in Afghanistan.

Berryhill’s role in the Army was as an armorer. She went out with different convoys and was deployed with the Marine Corp. When she returned home after being honorably discharged, Berryhill noticed that there were not many women veterans seeking the help they were entitled to.

“I feel as a woman veteran that a lot of women veterans don’t reach out for assistance,” Berryhill said. “A lot of women veterans that we serve have family that they lean on. My program does not serve a lot of women veterans because they are very prideful and don’t really reach out for assistance.”

MCN Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program Case Manager Kaylea Berry (Mvskoke) is an Air Force Veteran. Many of her relatives are veterans. Berry was inspired to enlist when her cousin and a work colleague enlisted. According to Berry, she did not experience any obstacles serving in the Air Force due to her gender. However, after she was honorably discharged she discovered that women are not always associated with serving in the military. 

“Nobody really acknowledges females being veterans, or active duty,” Berry said. “Most people just assume men are military members or veterans.”

Berry served four years from 2017 to 2021 as a mass communications specialist. She served for two years overseas in Ramstein, Germany. Her responsibilities involved public relations and internal communications. When she returned to civilian life Berry helped found Este Cate Hoktvke Suletawv, the MCN Women’s Honor Guard in 2022. 

Berry and Berryhill now serve fellow veterans through the Veterans Reintegration Program. Through the program, Muscogee veterans can receive assistance with employment, housing, and anything else they may need to support themselves.

“We serve homeless veterans and veterans who are at risk of homelessness,” Berryhill said. “Our main focus is to get them employed and get them reintegrated back into society.”

MCN Secretary of Veteran Affairs Grover Wind is proud of the service women veterans from the Tribe have contributed. However, he understands their contributions to keeping the country safe have not always been properly recognized.

“We support women veterans for the job they did. They have always been an intricate part of our forces,” Wind said. “Women warriors have always been important to our culture, our tribes. They have been an intricate part of our defense for a long time, they just haven’t always gotten the recognition.”

In addition to not receiving the proper recognition for their service, some have even been told that they are not real veterans because of their gender.

“Our women veterans, I’ve known some in the past that were told that they weren’t veterans because they were women,” Wind said. “That really infuriates me because they’ve played a very crucial part. I think the recognition is long overdue.”

The purpose of veteran gatherings is to give them the space to fellowship and connect with their tribe. Wind said that he met women veterans at the cookout he had never met before. It’s his hope they feel right at home and that they will come back for future gatherings.

Veterans and citizens can stay up to date on events hosted by VASO on their Facebook page, Muscogee Nation Veterans Affairs.