2 female World War II veterans share remarkable stories while honored in Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA - This Women’s History Month, the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia is recognizing two female World War II veterans.
"I have two brothers that were in the military, one was in the Army, the other one was in the Coast Guard, I said ‘what’s the matter with me, it’s my country too’," said May Brill, a Marine Veteran.
A feeling that encouraged the then 20-year-old Brill to enlist with the Waves, a branch of the Naval Reserve for women, back in World War II.
"We worked with the men that were in the Navy, we stood watch with them, we paraded with them, we worked with them, and we were not recognized as Navy," said Brill.
A lack of recognition and respect that Brill, who is now 99-years-old, says a lot of women like her face.
This is the reason she’s made it her life's mission to change that, starting with her Martin Luther King Jr. medal she wears around her neck, and a women’s veterans hat that she wears every day.
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"People that are in the public say, oh a female veteran, and I say ‘yes women were there too’," said Brill.
Women like 97-year-old Callie Odom Gentry, an original Tuskegee Airwoman.
"I was treated as a woman," said Odom Gentry.
After years and years of no recognition, groups like the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia are trying to showcase them and their stories that way they can get the credit today that they deserved many years ago.
"I think we can at least acknowledge that there is some great women in this space here right now," says a woman in the audience attending the recognition event.
Another woman said, "I stand upon the shoulders of greatness, of giants of history, but thank God I got to meet you and we all did, while you all are living legends."