Women of wartime

by Christopher Sanchez

Daily Lobo

Barbara Pickering said she envies women who serve in the military today.

"Ninety-seven percent of us were stuck behind desks with a typewriter," said Pickering, a Vietnam veteran. "Now they are doctors and pilots."

Pickering was one of four Navajo women veterans who spoke about their experience in the military Monday in Zimmerman Library.

Pickering said she was hauled from class to class in a cattle truck during boot camp.

"We'd have to go through Jacksonville during the time when people would shoot at military vehicles," she said. "Being in uniform made the trip a nightmare."

Although it could be dangerous, Pickering said, she was proud to be in uniform.

Helena Anthony, who served in the Marines working in payroll during Vietnam, said she respects those who fought in Vietnam.

"When they came back, the country didn't appreciate what they did," Anthony said, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

All women who served in Vietnam couldn't fight in the front lines, she said.

"Men were drafted in those days," Anthony said. "Now women have that choice."

Student Leah Rogers said she attended the lecture for her public speaking class and thought it was insightful.

"I learned a lot about how they were treated," Rogers said. "I learned about the obstacles they had to overcome as women and minorities."

Mary Cohoe, a civilian non-combatant for the American Red Cross, said she went to Vietnam to be with her brother, who was serving in the military at the time.

"I will take care of him," she told her parents.

Cohoe was part of an American Red Cross program called Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas, or also known as Doughnut Dollies.

Doughnut Dollies received their name during the Korean War when women would serve soldiers coffee and doughnuts, she said, and their main purpose was to support the American soldiers.

Mary Alice Tsosie, program manager of University Libraries, said the series of lectures has been going on for about a year and has attracted a lot of attention.

"The programs have been very popular," Tsosie said. "Some people have had to wait in the hall to listen."

University Libraries and the Indigenous Nations Library Program sponsored the talk, which was the kick-off for a series of lectures that will be put on throughout the year.

The veterans played a documentary, "Navajo Women Warriors: Sani Dez-Bah," which contained commentary from some of the women attending the discussion.

The discussion began at noon with a brown bag lunch and panel discussion and ended with a screening of the documentary.

The director of the documentary, Alice Carron, said she started a small film company to give voice to communities not heard or recognized.

"I feel blessed to be part of the process," she said.