(energetic music) - Welcome back to Inspire.

Today, we feature the history of women in the military.

We've come a long way yet we have so far to go when it comes to the challenges the service women face when enlisting to bravely fight for our country.

Coming up next on Inspire.

- [Voiceover] Inspire is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart using furniture to inspire conversation, and by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.

(energetic music) - Hello and welcome to Inspire.

I'm so excited to be here with my sisters and co-host, Betty Lou Pardue, and Amy Kelly.

Ladies, we have a wonderful show planned for you today, including a feature that proves that home improvement projects aren't just for men.

- And we get out and get dirty with Dirty Girl Adventures on another trek into the great outdoors.

- And we feature a discussion on the lengthy history of women in the military.

Women have come a long way, but we still have a very long way to go when it comes to gender bias, sexual harassment, and retention for service women.

Joining us for today's discussion, We feature Dr. Kerry Wynn, Washburn University Professor of History, and LuAnne Maddox, who served with the United States army for over 20 years.

Now LuAnne retired, get this, in 2009 as Lieutenant Colonel.

That's awesome.

Kerry and LuAnne, we thank you for being with us and I just want to know what got you in the military in the first place.

- Oh my goodness.

I almost went in the Navy right out of high school and then I decided to go to college instead.

And I went through ROTC after I enlisted as a PFC in the reserves, and I got a two year scholarship.

And I knew I wanted to become an officer so I can make a difference.

- Wow.

- [Danielle] That's amazing to me, especially being a Lieutenant Colonel and I don't feel worthy.

- Oh, no.

- Tell me what your trek was like as you ended up becoming a Lieutenant Colonel cause how many years and what were some of the things that you had to do along the way?

- I was stationed in probably 13 different locations over the 20 years that I was in.

- My goodness, like where?

- Fort Bragg was predominantly where I was stationed and I am paying for it ever since I jumped out of airplanes and... - Wow.

- My back does not like me now.

(ladies laughing) My knees do not like me now, but it is a rush.

So if you ever get the opportunity to do that, you definitely should.

(lady giggling) Yeah.

- I might have to pass on that.

(ladies laugh) - Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Yeah.

Yeah.

- Well, we thank you for your service.

- Absolutely.

(ladies chattering) - Oh, thank you.

- No question about that.

I'm curious for the, you joined in what year?

(distant chattering) - 1889.

- [Amy] So you've seen.

A great deal of changes in the military over the time.

What has been the most refreshing change to you and what has been the least refreshing?

- I think the most refreshing has been since I retired and that's that women are now allowed to be Rangers, go to Ranger school.

They're allowed to command combat arms units.

They're allowed to serve wherever they want to within reason.

So that's just, it's super encouraging.

Yeah.

- And tell us the reason that you retired.

- So in 2004, my husband passed away.

From something very similar to Lou Gehrig's disease.

And I knew that going forward that, the army would not miss me if I stayed at or if I retired, but my daughter would.

And our daughter was four at the time when her dad passed away, and she's gonna be 21 next week.

And it's been a long, hard journey of being a single parent, but it was worth it.

I would not change a thing.

It's, to me, being there for her during those formative years was much more important than staying in the army, and achieving rank and whatever.

- But that is one of the hard things about being a woman, and the fact that you're trying to serve your country as well, but you need to serve your family.

- Definitely, and my family comes first.

Yeah.

Always.

- Talk about your family.

When you first decided that you wanted to enlist, what were their thoughts?

Do they think, "Oh my goodness, LuAnne has lost her mind", or were they like, "Girl, go out there and do it because we're all behind you?"

- I think knowing that when I was in college, going in as an officer, they were very supportive.

Never tried to discourage me from becoming a military person.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- It is hard, as a woman, it is hard to think and talk about the military without acknowledging some of the downsides of being female in the military.

Certainly in the US military would be the sexual harassment and worse.

If you are encountered by a young woman who is considering the military experience, how would you address that?

How would you encourage someone to go into the military knowing that it could be really rough at times?

- And I'll be very honest, the military isn't for everyone, male or female.

I would have to say that it's just like any other corporation or business.

You have good people and you have bad people, and have good systems and bad systems.

The military has those systems in place for reporting, whether it's sexual harassment, equal opportunity, you name it.

But just like a corporation, it's dependent on the people.

And so if you don't have a good person in that position to facilitate growth and reporting and correction and justice, then it won't happen.

So you have to really really want to do it depending on what you want to do with your life and what job.

And there are so many civilian equivalent jobs in the military.

So you could go for whatever reason, if you wanted to get college first or college after.

Or not, or serve 20 years.

I didn't think I'd stayed past four years.

And there I was, 20 years later.

And it was just... Fast.

- [Betty] So there was a lot that you loved about it.

- Oh yeah.

The camaraderie, I think.

And I still stay in touch with a lot of the people that I'm close with.

You know, I don't miss getting up in the early morning, (ladies laughing) but I stay in touch with those who I want to, because it is like a family.

Yeah.

- Let's talk about the history Dr. Wynn.

How do you get this to young people to appreciate the history of the military, women in military?

- Well really, it intersects with a lot of different courses or a lot of different subjects in US history.

So I teach US history and looking at it from that perspective, really to think about women in the military, women have been involved in warfare in the United States in supporting roles and in essential roles as well since the very beginning.

So it comes into a lot of courses in women's history.

I teach a course on women in World War II here at Washburn, which it focuses on US women.

And then I teach it with a colleague in French language.

So we do kind of US versus France, some comparisons of women's experiences.

- Oh I love it, the whole "We can do it!"

(ladies laughing) - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah and it's really about the totality of women's experiences.

So not just in the military, but then also in support through industry and all sorts of different, and politics and journalism and all sorts of different venues.

But the military is a piece of that, of course, as well, in a very large piece that changes a lot during World War II.

- So were they recognized for their achievements at that time because I watched a lot of military movies over Memorial day.

And it was all about the girl that got left behind, nothing about the women that were serving right along with them.

So talk about that.

- Well, so I tell you, we watch films in this class and the films are much worse in some ways in terms of portraying that stereotype, right?

But that was something that women were expected to say.

That was an image they were expected to present during World War II, that they were just doing this as, something that was personal fun or patriotic, but it was just for that moment in time, that's what they were expected to say.

Now, for many women, it was a calling.

They served in essential services.

They flew airplanes.

They reported on what was going on in the war.

They were absolutely critical in taking care of the mail and communications, right?

Which was essential on the battlefield and all throughout the European theater and the Pacific theater, women served in a lot of essential roles, but they were expected to downplay their achievements in the time period.

And they were very unevenly recognized for their service.

- Did women serve in the American Revolution?

Did they serve in the civil war or any of the wars, the War of 1812, or any of the wars in between?

- Yes.

So, (ladies laughing) So, in the revolutionary war for example, well, and in all of the wars I think that you mentioned, women were expected to serve in service roles.

And in the American revolution, for example, they were called, many women were called Camp Followers and they did things like laundry services, and nursing and things like that.

And George Washington very famously saw them as a nuisance or kind of a necessary evil to have them kind of do that sort of work.

But there were always women who stepped outside of the bounds of what was expected women's work, right?

One very famous example is Harriet Tubman who was famous as a conductor on the underground railroad, who served not only as cooking, nursing, but was also a scout during the civil war and commanded men as a scout and conducted reconnaissance.

In her later years in her, I guess you could call it a retirement, although people didn't really retire, right?

Some of her advocates sought to get her a military pension and they made this case, right?

She commanded men.

She worked in very dangerous settings.

It had to be done through an Act of Congress and that did not go through.

So in the end, she received a widow's pension based upon her husband service in the United States.

- [Danielle] Oh my goodness.

- Yeah, instead of her own.

(energetic music) - We'll be back with more on the history of women in the military.

Coming up next, we feature proof that home improvement isn't just a man's job anymore.

(energetic music) (upbeat music) - Hello.

I'm Janice Watkins, the CEO of Topeka Habitat for Humanity.

Today, we're gonna be discussing the importance of cleaning and maintaining your P trap in your restroom.

If you notice the smell emitting from your sink, or if your bathroom has a bit of an odor, the first thing you're gonna want to check is your P trap.

A P trap serves two purposes.

It is to collect solid objects so that they don't enter your drain lines.

So we often find wedding rings and other objects that might be dropped down the sink in the P trap.

It is important to keep clean because it does allow water to collect.

So that gas emissions don't reenter your home.

So it's always supposed to be filled with a small amount of water, but if water can't be trapped in it and it's clogged, it won't do its job efficiently.

So the first thing that you want to do is obviously, turn off your water, which turnoffs can typically be found on these connectors.

And to turn them off, you're just gonna want to switch them over.

Check your water to make sure it's turned off.

The P trap is this curved fixture that connects your sink to the drain.

And you're gonna want to have a bucket in handy because it is designed to hold water.

(upbeat music) So once we have it off, you can see that this one is relatively clean.

If it was emitting a smell, or if it had something clogged in it, you would want to just rinse it out or take a wire brush and clean that out.

Once that is done and your P trap is clean, all you need to do is go through the steps of reconnecting it.

Quite simple.

(upbeat music) And then turning back on your water.

And then, your home should be free of smell and have an efficient working P trap.

(upbeat music) Thank you for joining us.

And we hope you get inspired to address your own home maintenance.

(energetic music) - And we're back with Carrie Wynn and LuAnne Maddox.

Ladies, in the last segment, we discussed the history of women in the military and delved a bit into our own experiences.

So let's continue with this discussion.

We had talked about Harriet Tubman and the role she played in the military.

I mean, most of us are familiar with her underground railroad experience, but you were saying that someone tried to get an Act of Congress through to get her some military recognition.

What happened?

- So for the, it just didn't make it that final step.

You know, she had advocates.

In the end, what they said was that there was not enough documentation, right?

Of her efforts as espionage.

- So how can we get her recognized?

Cause now I'm on the Harriet train.

- Yeah!

- Well, so I'm sure that there are kind of movements afoot to provide more recognition in terms of commemoration, statutes.

You know, even just knowing the history and talking to other people about the history, I think is really helpful in terms of recognizing the achievements of Harriet Tubman and many other women, right?

- So when did women start getting that kind of recognition?

- Or have they?

(LuAnne and Kerry laughs) - Yeah, or have them?

Right, yeah.

I mean, certainly, the Lieutenant Colonel gets that recognition.

- There is a more formal role that is crafted and recognized for women.

Probably the turning point would be World War II when there are first women's auxiliaries created.

And then, women explicitly serving in the military, and recognize the serving in the military.

So the Women's Army Corps, the Waves, which was the Naval equivalent, the Wasps, which were the women's air service pilots.

So the women's air service pilots, for example, flew planes that were not easy to fly.

They were really difficult to fly.

We read in my class an autobiography by a woman who just describes how awful it was to fly this plane where the gears went out and it was like steering a bus in the air.

And it was like, - Oh my god.

- And there were women who women's air force service pilots who died ferrying these planes in the United States in plane crashes.

But their work for the Wasps was not fully recognized until much, much later.

In fact, quite recently, I think it was in the 21st century.

- You mentioned going back and forth between the United States and France.

Did they get more recognition?

If you're a French woman, would you get more recognition?

- That's a really good question.

I think in different ways, right?

So in this time period, during World War II, you have Vichy France.

So France becomes allied with Germany, right?

But then, so there's a Nazi aligned government in France at the time.

So women who fight with the French resistance and an underground kind of espionage sort of fashion are really some of the women to whom attention is called in France, for example.

- How can we get more attention brought to women in the military?

I mean, we'll see feature films about guys in the military all the time, but not about the women.

What can we do to kind of push that?

- I think we probably need more women to tell stories, right?

We need more people to do documentaries, I would say, and to do historical research.

If you're interested in history, many of my students are now doing things like documentaries, and websites and... - Podcasts probably.

- Podcasts.

things that are published pretty widely to a popular audience.

And so I would say if you're interested in the history, take classes in the history, find out about the primary sources where you can go to an archive and do research, do oral histories, I would say.

You know, talk to your grandparents, talk to your parents, talk to aunts and uncles and people in your community.

Because I think a lot of the history has simply not been told.

There are so many stories that we could tell, and I think we need to start telling them more and more to each other, and build up some more support.

- You know, that is one of the things you were just saying, cause with Memorial day passing and our greatest generation, it usually focuses on the men, but there were so many women and I'd like them to be able to find some women to tell their stories.

- And there is the Library of Congress has a Veterans Oral History Project that people can participate in where then those oral histories can be archived.

There are lots of ways to preserve the history of people you know, and to find photographs, and find out who's in those photographs before that information is no longer around, right?

Before you'd no longer have the people who were in them to talk to.

All of those things I think are important steps towards recognition and towards telling the history.

- Are there organizations for women who have retired from the military or have done service that are for women?

We know there's lots of organizations helping our vets, not nearly enough for our vets, in my opinion.

However, are there any veterans specifically for women?

- I am not personally familiar with some, there may be some out there.

And you say, "bring attention to", I stay pretty incognito.

Most people would not know me walking down the street and say, "Oh, she's a retired army Lieutenant Colonel."

I don't wear the hat.

I don't wear the shirt very often.

But there are many women who have written books that were from the military.

Gen. Ann Dunwoody is one of them, you know, four star general AMC commander, Airborne commander, just an amazing human being.

So, if we can promote those books, even if it's a reading club or something like that, or promote them in school for young young children to read, but I'm not familiar with any specific organizations.

- These ladies, a doctor and a Lieutenant Colonel, I mean, Kerry and LuAnne, we thank you for being here with us.

- Thank you - Thank you very much.

- Yes, you have inspired us.

You know, an inspiration for our future.

And we thank you so much for your service and your continued service.

And up next, we are gonna get out and get dirty with Dirty Girl Adventures.

And in the military, just think of how that was.

(ladies laughing) - Build me tips for preparing you for your next trek into the great outdoors.

(energetic music) (laid-back music) - Today, we're gonna talk about safety considerations that people need to think about before they go hiking.

So when you're planning to go on a hike, whether it's the summer or the winter, some of the same things apply.

You need to make sure that you let somebody know where you're going and your expected length of time to be gone.

You should take your phone with you.

To save battery, you might put it on airplane mode so that when you need it, it will still have a charge.

In the summer, you need bug spray.

It's always good to go with a partner so that you have somebody with you in case something happens.

- You need water, - Always.

- You always need water.

So generally, people will have a small pack... - Of water and a first aid kit, just minimum stuff.

This is a bigger pack, but you can put fewer things in the pack.

You could also take a trail map.

Sometimes we don't take a map, but we know where our car is generally.

And while we're hiking, we continuously think about the direction that we would need to go if we needed to go back to our vehicle.

- [Jennifer] And you definitely want to pay attention to trail markers, every trail has some markers specific to it.

So before you leave on your hike, you need to know what the markers are for that trail, and be familiar with what the different colors of markers might mean.

- And then of course, it's important to check the weather.

In Kansas, you never know what the weather might bring.

So it's good to know ahead of time.

You know, if it's gonna start pouring rain in an hour, you need to time your hike just right.

Or if it will be windy or super hot, you're more likely to be dehydrated.

So knowing the weather conditions help you be prepared for a good outdoor outing.

(laid-back music) So it is important to know your own limits when you're going on a hike or on any outdoor adventure.

And to not overstress yourself, the first few times, you need to test your limits perhaps sometimes.

So the conditions will make a difference.

Hiking on a cool rainy day is easier.

Hiking on a hot summer day, makes it a little bit harder.

So knowing your limits and always having a plan is an important aspect of safety on the trail.

- [Jennifer] Another thing to think about regarding safety and hiking, is knowing the terrain that you're gonna be on.

Although people think that Kansas is pretty flat.

Many of the trails are located in areas that have lots of rocks and lots of trees.

So rocks can sometimes be a little slippery and there can be very steep inclines here in Kansas.

So be prepared for that.

This is Jennifer and Denise with Dirty Girl Adventures.

- [Denise] We hope we've inspired you to get out and get dirty.

(laid-back music) (energetic music) - Thank you to Jennifer and Denise of Dirty Girl Adventures for the tips for our next outdoor adventure.

Ladies, we certainly did learn a lot about the history of women in the military, and it was inspiring to talk with LuAnne and hear her story.

So what did you learn from today's discussion?

- Well Lieutenant Colonel, I mean, that's huge.

- Huge.

- And then Dr. Wynn, I mean, boy, accomplished women.

- [Danielle] Yes.

- And I'm indebted to them both and grateful to both of them.

- [Danielle] Absolutely.

- [Amy] I feel very unworthy to, being in their presence because of the Lieutenant Colonel and also with Dr. Wynn's experience and knowledge of, we had this active discussion of what Harriet Tubman did.

Just one, we picked one woman out of history who we happen to be familiar with her name and all the things that she did.

Think of the thousands of women, nameless women who did equally magnificent things that are, it's gone.

- The thousands of women of color, who did amazing things in the military that we will never know about.

And someone should talk about their history.

Someone should have them being on some kind of money.

I'm still about Harriet Tubman.

Anything beyond the underground railroad.

And now I'm like, "You know what?

This woman deserves some money.

Everything that she did for our country and she should be lauded."

And we're just now having that conversation.

And then women currently serving.

Cause we don't talk a whole lot about that either but always talking about the gal that got left behind but there are plenty of women who are serving and they're leaving their families behind for our sakes.

- [Betty] Right?

And so many of them now seem to, it does seem to make news when they're admitted to a certain program or a certain branch of the service when they're admitted there.

But you know, think of how hard they have to work.

Almost extra hard, prove themselves even more, of course that's with anything it seems like?

- Yes.

And then gender biases.

- [Betty] Right.

- You know, how does that play into it?

Maybe some of them would have achieved earlier, but they didn't because of their gender.

I mean, there's all these things to think about when it comes to being in the military, but I mean their service, we laud you, we appreciate right.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Right.

Right.

Absolutely.

- Thank you for, that not just the sacrificial lives that they are living, but their families as well.

- [Betty] Right.

- And I would say, memorialize your stories for those women in the military right now.

Please memorialize your stories.

There's so many of us that are interested and would like to know, we don't have the military background and we want to know.

And so, talk about it, blog, podcast, I don't know, pick whatever you want, and journal.

Let us know what your experience has been like so that our kids, and our grandkids, and our great, great grandkids can understand what the female military experience has been in our current day and age.

- And for my generation and those that are after me, listen.

Cause there are a lot of stories that my family told and I'm like, "Yeah, it's just another story, next."

- "Whatever."

Yeah.

- "Can we go outside now?"

And I wish that I had looked at the pictures more so I knew who were in the pictures and heard the story so I could be able to tell those stories to more and more people.

So please pay attention to what our forefathers and foremothers had talked about.

So we can be the bearers of those stories going forward.

(energetic music) - And that's all the time we have for today.

We sure hope you've been just as inspired as we have by the powerful stories and features showcasing the magnificent women making moves in our community, nation, and our world.

And as a reminder, you can watch this program again at watch.ktwu.org.

- And if you're so inspired to learn more about our guests, find out what is coming up on future shows, and to get access to additional content, be sure to visit our website at wwwdotwvu.org/inspire.

- Inspiring women, inspiring you, on KTWU.

Thank you for watching.

(energetic music) - [Voiceover] Inspire is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart using furniture to inspire conversation and by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.