Many people have heard stories from veterans regarding their experience in the military, but how many of those stories came from a female veteran?
American Legion Post 4776 in St. Nazianz, in partnership with Manitowoc County Veterans (led by Ashly Smits), is looking to give women veterans a platform to tell their stories this Saturday (January 28th) during an event known as the I Am Not Invisible Campaign.
We spoke with Nancy Schnell-Rivera, who explained that the program began in 2017, and this is the fourth time it has come to the Dairy State.
Nancy says she expects the women that attend the event, which will be held at 4411 Calumet Avenue in Manitowoc, will see veterans like themselves and have a sense of comradery.
“We have a pilot coming in and she is going to be wearing her flight suit. So that’s going to start stories,” Nancy explained. “We have an 83-year-old veteran who served in 1958 and 1959, so her stories are completely different.”
Nancy, who herself is a retired Command Sargent Major, told us it is much easier to spot a male veteran than their female counterparts.
“They tend to wear polo shirts, a ball cap, or a lanyard that says ‘Army Veteran’…or whatever it happens to be. Women generally don’t do that,” she noted. “I think it’s important just to have this platform.”
As for what participants can expect, a short interview will be conducted with each woman, and a photo will be taken.
That picture will then be turned into a six-foot banner and displayed across the state.
Nancy explained to Seehafer News that “The concept was, let’s place these banners at the VA clinics and VA hospitals to make women veterans feel more welcome.”
And since then, the pictures have been displayed in numerous museums and libraries around the state, as well as at places like American Family Field, the Fiserv Forum, and Lambeau Field.
To register to attend the event, you can either call Nancy at 920-905-6273 or visit the Veteran Services section of ManitowocCountyWi.gov.
