Mothers have volunte ered to serve in the military since the Revolutionary War\, where they hel d traditional roles as nurses\, seamstresses or cooks and\, since 2015\, i n designated frontline combat roles. On Thursday\, May 6 at 12 p.m. EST\,& nbsp\;the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP) invites the p ublic to a virtual panel titled &ldquo\;Motherhood and the Military&rdquo\ ; through the \;VHP Facebook page. The panelists and moderator will be available to answer questions and address remarks in the comments section . \; \;
\nWomen were 16.5% of all active-duty personnel in 2018 and make up 10% of all military veterans\, a percentage that is likel y to increase rapidly in the next decade\, according to Pentagon data. Wom en veterans hold many roles\, including that of mothers\, but their contri butions have often gone unrecognized\, according to experts.
\nAhead of Mother&rsquo\;s Day\, the panel will explore the intersection of the r ole of mothers and their connection to the military through the personal e xperiences of four women veterans.
\n&ldquo\;These strong women\, ju st like those who came before them\, remind us that while motherhood itsel f can be a full-time job\, some mothers choose to continue serving in the Armed Forces. They juggle the trials of parenting with the responsibility of maintaining operations\, coping with deployment and the uncertainty tha t can come with it all\,&rdquo\; said Elizabeth Estabrooks\, acting execut ive director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Center for Women V eterans\, and the panel&rsquo\;s moderator.
\nThe discussion will in clude special introductions by Senators Tammy Duckworth\, D-Ill\, and Joni Ernst\, R-Iowa\, both of whom are military veterans and mothers and serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Duckworth\, an Iraq war veteran\, is the first female double amputee to serve in the Senate\, while Ernst w as the first female combat veteran to serve in that chamber.
\n&ldqu o\;The dual roles of mother and soldier are not uncommon\, but too often t he story of service\, sacrifice and the impact on individual families goes untold\,&rdquo\; said Duckworth\, who made history in 2018 when she took her newborn baby to a Senate floor vote\, just weeks after giving birth.\n
For her part\, Ernst\, a former company commander in Kuwait and Ira q\, said it wasn&rsquo\;t easy for her to leave her little girl for deploy ments &ldquo\;halfway across the world.&rdquo\;
\n\;&ldquo\;Tha t experience left me with a deep appreciation for the sacrifice our milita ry families make\, particularly our moms in uniform\,&rdquo\; said Ernst\, the first woman to represent Iowa in Congress.
\nThe panel will fea ture mothers from different military branches who have served our nation t hrough various generations and armed conflicts. They will discuss the tria ls of parenting and fulfilling operational obligations\, coping with the h eartache of deployments and separations and the uncertainty that comes wit h military service.
\nPanelists for the program include:
\nChi
ef Warrant Officer 5 Candy Martin (U.S. Army\, retired) &mdash\; Martin se
rved 38 years with the U.S. Army Reserves\, including a deployment to Iraq
in 2005. \;Her son\, Lt. Tom Martin\, was killed in action two years
later. She remains very active in the veteran community and with American
Gold Star Mothers\, Inc.
Command Sgt. Major Rue Mayweather (U.S. Army
\, retired) &mdash\; Mayweather served 30 years in the U.S. Army. She and
her son\, Capt. Kenieth Mayweather\, both deployed to Iraq in 2014 in supp
ort of Operation New Dawn.
Rupa Dainer (U.S. Navy veteran) &mdash\;&n
bsp\;Dainer remembers having &ldquo\;50\,000 emotions&rdquo\; when she lea
rned of her deployment to Afghanistan \;in the parking lot of her daug
hters&rsquo\; daycare in 2010. The Navy doctor going off to war helped her
daughters\, only 4 and 2 years old at the time\, get through deployment w
ith videos she made before she left\, photos\, and a calendar to track the
days.
Mary Dever (U.S. Air Force veteran) &mdash\; Dever served as a
n embedded Air Force broadcast journalist in Iraq and Afghanistan. She lat
er became an instructor for the final three of her 10 years of service. Wh
en she became pregnant\, she fought for her extended maternity leave and r
elied on an online support group for moms in uniform. \;Not wanting to
leave her son for a new deployment\, Dever left the military and started
to work with Disabled American Veterans.
Congress created the Veteran
s History Project in 2000 to collect\, preserve and make accessible the fi
rsthand remembrances of United States war veterans from World War I throug
h the more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan\, so that future gener
ations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities
of military service. For more information\, visit \;www.loc.gov/vets/
\;or call the toll-free message line at (888) 371-5848. Subscribe to
the VHP RSS to receive periodic updates of VHP news. Follow VHP on Faceboo
k @vetshistoryproject.
The Library of Congress is the world&rsquo\ ;s largest library\, offering access to the creative record of the United States &mdash\; and extensive materials from around the world &mdash\; bot h on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections\, reference se rvices\, and other programs and plan a visit at \;loc.gov\; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at \;congress. gov\; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
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\nhttps://pgcmls.libne t.info/event/5118727 URL;VALUE=URI:https://pgcmls.libnet.info/event/5118727 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR