Campaign photographs women veterans
Nearly 70 women veterans gathered Saturday to demonstrate to their community and one another that their role in American military history matters.
A nationwide campaign known as “I Am Not Invisible” came to the Butler Veterans Affairs Health Care System to spread the visibility effort. The campaign involves community events during which women veterans gather to share stories and pose for photographs by Gene Russell, a primary photographer for the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Karen Dunn, a health promotion and disease prevention program manager for Butler's VA system, organized Saturday's effort after attending a similar event in Pittsburgh. She said she was floored by the participation.
“It was an awesome day,” Dunn said. “It was amazing to be in a room with so many women who have done such amazing things. I mean, there was a nuclear chemist here today.”
Participants were brought in throughout the morning and treated to a little hair and beauty treatment before their photo shoots. Volunteers from the Butler Beauty Academy and Mary Kay cosmetics company helped out, Dunn said.The photos are portraits taken in whichever style their subjects prefer. Some dress up, while others just want a T-shirt labeled with their military branch.Some time after the event, Russell edits the images to be displayed in black and white and overlaid with the words “I Am Not Invisible.”The VA system plans to hold a reception with large printed-out versions of each woman's portrait sometime later this year, Dunn said.Beyond the photo shoot, many of those present rejoiced in the sense of community and female empowerment.Shannon Bean, a former Army medic who served from 1996 to 1998, said she loved seeing the age ranges in women who participated.
“For me, it's always very humbling because I know how difficult it was to be a woman in the military when I served, but then you hear from these women who served in World War II and other wars.”The Butler woman described her elders at the event with a single word.“They were pioneers,” she said. “They really were.”One such pioneer, the 86-year-old Butler resident June Anderson, said the event was “beautiful.”Anderson served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. Many of the younger women at the event came up to thank her for opening doors for them. “I thought it was wonderful,” Anderson said. “I have never felt so welcome in all my life in any place. There were young girls who would come up and give me hugs and kisses. And I did a little crying myself.”
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