WHEREAS, throughout our nation’s history, women have served honorably and courageously both on and off the battlefield, though initially in limited and traditional gender roles such as nurses, cooks, and in other administrative support roles; and

WHEREAS, during World War I, women enlisted in the Navy as Yeoman (F) and the Marine Corps as Reservists (F) to serve on the home front as truck drivers, mechanics, radio operators, translators, and munitions workers, filling in for men who were deployed overseas; and

WHEREAS, the formation of special units in World War II, such as the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), Women’s Army Corps (WACs), Coast Guard Women’s Reserve (SPARs), Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), and the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve (WRs) allowed women to begin serving in positions previously reserved for men; and

WHEREAS, since all combat positions opened to women in 2016, they now comprise more than 17 percent of the country’s military force, creating more opportunities for recognition and advancement and allowing for greater equity in military careers and rank; and

WHEREAS, with more than 10,000 here in Maine, women are now the fastest growing demographic of veterans, and the State recognizes their service and sacrifice and we stand by them, just as they stood by us in their service to our state and our nation; and

WHEREAS, this year marks the 76th anniversary of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, which was spearheaded by then Representative Margaret Chase Smith and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on June 12, 1948, acknowledging the great contributions made by women in the military and enabling them to serve as regular and permanent members of the United States Armed Forces and Reserves in times of both peace and war and giving them equal pay, rank, and privileges;

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Janet T. Mills, Governor of the great State of Maine, do hereby proclaim June 12th, 2024 as

Women Veterans Day

throughout the State of Maine, and I call upon the people of Maine to observe this day with the appropriate study, programs, and celebration of the vital role of women veterans in American history.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the Great Seal of the State to be hereunto affixed GIVEN under my hand at Augusta this fifth day of June Two Thousand Twenty-Four