Women In uniform

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Retired Air Force Col. Linda Sindt is greeted by Erika Barrows of Medford during the Veterans Day ceremony at the Department of Veterans Affairs' facility in White City. Sindt was the keynote speaker.Jim Craven

November 12, 2009

By Paul Fattig

Mail Tribune

Linda Sindt has only the utmost respect for the men who have served in the U.S. military since the nation was founded.

After all, her husband, Duane, is a retired Air Force major.

But Sindt, 65, of Medford, the keynote speaker at the annual Veterans Day observance at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics, in addition to lauding the military service of men, wanted to gently remind those in the packed audience that women also served.

"Most of us women veterans fought pretty hard to be fully integrated and not singled out in any way as a separate entity," said the retired Air Force colonel, whose rows of medals include the Vietnam Service Medal and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal for her service in Thailand during the Vietnam War.

"But I was privileged to serve at a time when the doors were just beginning to crack open a bit for military women," she said. "When I was commissioned in 1965, women represented less than one-half of 1 percent of the military."

Today, they represent 15 percent, she said, adding that 20 percent of those in the Air Force are women.

"In 1965, it was actually against the law for a woman to serve on a full-time basis as a line officer — a colonel," she said.

Now the Army has a four-star general who happens to be a woman, one of 57 women serving full time on active duty as a general or admiral, she said.

"And colonels are just everywhere," she said, drawing a laugh from the audience.

In introducing Sindt, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., cited her nearly quarter of a century of military service and her ongoing efforts to help veterans. Since retiring in 1989, she served as the Air Force's primary representative to the Department of Defense's advisory committee on women in the military and also is the vice chairwoman of the Jackson County Veterans Advisory Committee.

"In my book, every day is Veterans Day, because without our veterans and those on active duty, we would not have the freedom we have in this country," Walden said, noting that his respect also goes to those who died in service to the nation.

Sindt, a Crater High School graduate who observed that her father helped build the structures at the SORCC when it was known as Camp White during World War II, cited several fellow women veterans, including local resident Mary Paine, 89, who went through Marine Corps basic training in 1943 and helped train Marine fighter pilots during the war. Her oldest daughter also became a Marine, Sindt said.

Of the roughly 23.5 million veterans across the nation, almost 2 million are women, Sindt said, adding there are 350,000 veterans in Oregon, of which 25,000 are women.

"History tells us that from the American Revolution women have served in some way in every conflict," she said, noting that 33,000 American women served in World War I, including 135 military nurses who were killed in that war.

Of the several hundred thousand American women who served in World War II, some 400 of them, mostly nurses, were killed. Thirty-eight women pilots also died, she said.

"During the Korean (War) era, 120,000 women were in uniform and 17 nurses were killed," she said. "During Vietnam, 265,000 military women served, including 7,000 women who were deployed in theater in southeast Asia."

Most of those who served in the Vietnam War were nurses, she said. "The names of eight women, all nurses, are engraved in the Vietnam Memorial Wall."

During Desert Storm, more than 40,000 women were deployed, she said, noting 15 died in that conflict.

"OK, 7,000 women in the war zone in Vietnam, more than 40,000 in Desert Storm and 220,000 military women have served in the Middle East since 2001," she said. "Over 600 have been wounded and 104 have died."

There are currently 350,000 women in the armed forces, she observed.

"Today it is still against the law for women to serve in combat," she said. "But — guess what? — nobody can figure out where the combat zone really is on the modern battlefield. Women are currently flying fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, serve in the military police and as combat medics."

She also noted many have been decorated for valor, including receiving the Silver Star and Bronze Star for courageous acts in battle as well as the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in combat.

"Because of this growing combat service, women are the fastest-growing population in the VA health care system, and their numbers are expected to double in the next few years," she said.

After her presentation, Sindt said she was a bit envious of opportunities existing for women in today's military.

"But I like to think I was kind of a pioneer who helped make that happen," she said.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com.

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