Galesburg Reporter

Sen. Jil Tracy wants women veterans to receive their due respect and be visible for all the sacrifices they have made.

Tracy spoke out about this lack of recognition during her speech on the Senate floor on Apr. 9.

"I want to join Sen. Gillespie in recognizing this day of Jun. 12, 2022, as women's Veterans Day. It's hard to believe that women have not been previously officially recognized as regular members of the United States military before the state, but we thank all of our veterans and we also want to recognize that our women have contributed greatly to the veterans' cause. they've served our nation. They've given the great sacrifice, as many of our other veterans and so we women just want to commemorate and recognize and bring it to your attention that these women veterans need to be recognized. and so I thank Sen. Gillespie for bringing this and just ask you all to join us in this resolution," said Tracy.

Lindsay Gargotto, Military and Veteran Services director at Bellarmine University in Louisville and an Air Force veteran, said that this lack of acknowledgment can make you feel 'invisible.' 

"If you're looking at things and being depicted a certain way and you're like, 'that's not me,' then that gets internalized over time," she said. 

House Joint Resolution 64 declares Jun. 12, 2022, as "Women's Veterans Day" in an effort to commemorate the day women were officially added as regular members of the United States military. Women have always been an important part of the military, but they haven't been recognized for their efforts. This resolution determines to fulfill that agenda.

HJR 64 was introduced by Democratic Rep. Stephanie Kifowit in January. According to the website of the Kentucky Department of Veteran Affairs, there are a total of 24,000 women in the veteran commonwealth population. Emily Hernandez, who joined the army at the age of 19, wants to see more women participating in the events, as reported by USA Today. 

"It doesn't have to be like a typical military-related thing," she said. "We don't have to sit around and talk about our time in the service. We can just talk about, you know, what are our crazy kids up to these days or … anything and everything under the sun."

House Joint Resolution 64 was adopted by both chambers on Apr. 9.