Kathy Contres, a 1977 Slippery Rock University alumna, points to her portrait hanging in the National Museum of the U.S. Navy during her recent visit to Washington, D.C., as part of the first-ever all-women veterans honor flight. Chris Lipp/Submitted photo

SLIPPERY ROCK — “Oh, was your husband a veteran?” is a question people such as Kathy Contres are asked when they use a parking spot reserved for veterans or receive other benefits for those who served in the military. “No, I’m the veteran,” is how women veterans respond to correct people.

“It’s been that way forever, but we’re finally getting the recognition,” said Contres, a former U.S. Navy captain and a 1977 Slippery Rock University graduate with a degree in allied health.

Contres recently was part of the first-ever, all-women honor flight, as more than 100 female veterans of the U.S. armed forces traveled by chartered plane from Sanford, Fla., to Washington, D.C., to visit the veterans memorials and other attractions in the nation’s capital. The trip was organized through the Villages Honor Flight and the Tri-County Womens Veterans Association in Florida, which raised more than $130,000 for transportation and hotels for the veterans, their guardians and staff.

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