On the Friday before Labor Day in 1974, I climbed on a jet plane in Denver, Colorado, and after stops in St. Louis and Charlotte, we landed in Columbia, South Carolina, where a bus was waiting to take us to Fort Jackson and the beginnings of basic training. After killing time over the Labor Day weekend, we received our uniforms and began the transformation from civilians to soldiers. In those days, the 5th Basic Training Brigade was all women, and a part of the brass we wore on our dress uniforms was a circular brass pin containing the profile of Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of war.
The Women's Army Corps was being phased out, and we were being trained as soldiers, but it was kind of a limbo...we were marching everywhere in boots which were made for show, not go, and the stress fracture of the arch was as common as a cold. We were learning how to shoot, how to read maps, how to do all the things our brothers in the army were learning, but it was still against federal law for women to go into combat zones...even though the Vietnam war had redefined combat zones forever. We marched, learned about tear gas, learned to drive all sorts of vehicles, and soldiered on.
About half way through basic training, we had a uniform change. Pallas Athena was removed from our uniforms and replaced by a second brass pin with the letters US; now our dress uniforms looked just like those of the men...the US on both lapels. to my knowledge, the women who were in basic training in the fall of 1974 were the last to wear the Pallas Athena...the military had entered into a new era. It would take several more years for the army to become fully integrated in terms of jobs, but I like to think that we laid a foundation for the women in the army today, and I am proud of that. I spent ten years in military service, and while it took me a while to really honor that time (see the entry in this tome for Veterans Day 2009) I do honor it. And I honor all the people I know who are serving, have served, and will serve to protect the life we live!
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