THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 23, 1995 TAG: 9506230547
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ARLINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Until recently, Chesapeake resident Chelsea Miller didn't know what the wooden ``WAC'' plaque on her grandmother's nightstand meant.
``I though someone had given it to her as a joke. My grandmother loved to tell jokes,'' Miller said Thursday, standing near the entrance of the Arlington National Cemetery.
``I thought it might have been the word `wacky,' but the end of the plaque had broken off.''
But it hadn't.
After her grandmother died, seven years ago, Miller realized the WAC plaque was a prized memento from World War II. Doris Maynard had served in the Women's Army Corps.
That's why Miller drove four hours Thursday morning to Arlington. She was there to witness a ground-breaking ceremony for the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, which will honor 1.8 million women who, like her grandmother, served in the U.S. armed forces.
``I just wished she had lived long enough to see this,'' Miller said.
It will cost $25 millino[sic] to complete the memorial, which was authorized by Congress in 1986. It will highlight the lives of women who worked to defend their country since Deborah Sampson Gannett disguised herself as a man and served in the Revolutionary War.
Over the years women have served as clerks, secretaries, nurses, soldiers - officially and unofficially. Often they've gotten only a fraction of the compensation their male counterparts have received.
The groundbreaking hosted some 4,000 female veterans and active duty personnel. Men and women in uniform mingled with 1,000 other guests, including women dressed in red, white and blue from head to toe, as flags from the nation's 56 states and territories flapped in a slight breeze.
President Clinton attended the groundbreaking with the first lady.
``This memorial. . . makes a long overdue payment on a debt that we will never fully repay,'' Clinton told the crowd. ``A debt we owe to generations of American women in uniform who gave and continue to give so much to our country, and a debt we owe yet to future generations of women who will dedicate their own lives in defense of our freedom.''
The memorial will be built at the cemetery's gateway. Outside the building, a deteriorating semi-circular wall be transformed into a ``court of honor'' with a reflecting pool at its center. Inside will be an education center with a computer registry of women's photographs, recollections and service records. Four stairways will lead to an upper terrace with a view of the cemetery and surrounding monuments.
Glass tablets inscribed with quotations of service women will function as skylights by day. By night, light will pass out through the tablets to illuminate the cemetery's hillside.
Congress has authorized $9.5 million for repairs and restoration work at the site. Money for the memorial itself is being raised by the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, which is seeking public donations. So far, the foundation has raised about $15 million.
Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Wilma L. Vaught, president of the board of directors of WIMSA, had been pushing for the women's memorial for years. One of the most decorated women in history, Vaught said Thursday that the building of the memorial is one of the highlights of her career.
``What we want to do with this memorial is to tell the story, to tell the history of women's service to the country,'' Vaught said. ``They never really told their story. They came home and went on with life.''
The memorial is expected to be completed and dedicated within the next two years. Miller said she'll be back when it opens.
``I wish I would've asked her about her involvement in (the army),'' Miller said of her grandmother. ``But it will be wonderful to come here and learn about it. It's nice to know so many will get a chance to know about my grandmother.''
For more information about the memorial or to contribute data on women who served, call 1-800-4-SALUTE. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: WOMEN IN THE MILITARY MEMORIAL by CNB