Around 50 Brevard County female veterans and their supporters boarded a bus outside the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center on Merritt Island, as a Brevard County Sheriff’s Office motorcycle escort lead the way, for a special memory-making journey.
The women were part of a dedicated “Flight of Honor” mission recognizing female veterans by taking them to Washington, D.C., to see the monuments and be honored for their service.
“My big mission is to bring awareness that women did serve in the military, because so many of them are forgotten,” Dorothy Walsh told FLORIDA TODAY. Walsh is president of Their Voice of Hope, a Brevard County nonprofit which assists and supports women veterans.
The Tuesday, March 10 celebration marked the first time a dedicated flight recognizing only female veterans departed with a Brevard-based group, Walsh said. They planned to leave Wednesday morning from Lakeland. The veterans hailed from various military branches.
Walsh, who is not a veteran herself, said that her mission is to be a voice for this “invisible population”.
The Brevard veterans will join more than 150 Florida female veterans on a tour of the monuments in the nation’s capital. While the trip is being coordinated by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) specifically for women veterans, Their Voice of Hope raised the funds, coordinated the participation and secured the bus to Lakeland.
The mission is similar to Honor Flights which take veterans — men and women — to the U.S. capital multiple times a year, leaving from Melbourne Orlando International Airport.
The GFWC Florida Flight of Honor itself is organized by GFWC Florida President Sara Dessureau. After a female friend who was a military veteran took her own life, Dessureau decided female veterans needed an opportunity like this.
The hope is that these initiatives break through the isolation some female veterans experience.
“So many of these women do not, cannot associate with men because of the trauma that they went through while they were serving in the military,” Walsh told FLORIDA TODAY.
Lisa Marie Webb, a retired Master Sergeant, smiled as she mingled with fellow veterans and their supporters. After 24 years of service to the country, she said the recognition was appreciated.
“This is amazing, and such an honor,” Webb told FLORIDA TODAY. “The more I heard of the things they’re doing, I’m just so honored and amazed that they’re doing this for us.”
During sendoff remarks, Colonel Shannon DaSilva, Commander of Space Delta 10 at Patrick Space Force Base, thanked the women veterans for leading the way for today’s generation, and urged them to remember the monuments in D.C. exist for them as well.
“Each of you answered a call to serve at a time when the path for women in uniform was often uncertain, sometimes unrecognized, and too often underestimated and unappreciated,” said DaSilva. “Yet, you stepped forward anyway.”
“Because of you, doors that once barely stood open are now wide enough for the next generation of women to walk through with confidence,” DaSilva said. “Young women in uniform today stand on a stronger foundation of opportunity, respect, and leadership.”
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard female veterans honored on Florida ‘Flight of Honor’