Vanguard Brigade Soldiers celebrate anniversary of 19th Amendment

Photo By Sgt. Maj. Tanya Lumbard | Master Sgt. Marilyn Johnson, with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division – Center, tells audience members about Susan B. Anthony’s dedication to the women’s suffrage movement during an Aug. 26, Women’s Equality Day observance at the Ramadi Event Center.  

CAMP RAMADI, IRAQ

08.26.2010

Story by Staff Sgt. Tanya Lumbard 

4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

CAMP RAMADI, Iraq — Soldiers with 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division – Center, paid tribute to women whose efforts helped pave the way for other women today during an Aug. 26, equal opportunity observance program.

The observance, at the Ramadi Event Center, celebrated the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.

“The women’s rights movement started with ordinary women wanting the same rights that their husbands had—the right to vote and to help create the laws they had to live by,” said Sgt. 1st Class Sundi Ganaway, with 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th AAB. “These ordinary women became extraordinary in their accomplishments. They persevered through many things, to include being thrown in jail, in order to ensure we, as women, were granted the right to vote. In doing so they opened up the doors for other women.”

During the observance, female Soldiers assigned to 4th AAB gave audience members a glimpse of those efforts with a theatrical performance highlighting the accomplishments of Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul and Helen Wyatt Snapp.

“Because these women worked deliberately and continuously to create a better world, I am empowered, inspired and motivated to take charge of my own destiny and continue to celebrate the right to vote while honoring the strength of a woman,” said Sgt. Latina Brown, with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th AAB.

Valerie Cleary, first sergeant of Company B, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th AAB, and guest speaker at the event, talked about several achievements women have made—from Margaret Corbin, who was the first female to receive recognition for heroism on the battlefield in 1779, to Pfc. Kia Lester, a combat medic currently assigned to BSTB, 4th AAB, who helped provide medical assistance to fellow soldiers whose vehicle was recently hit by an RKG-3 (grenade).

Cleary said the legacy of female pioneers in the past lives on through the lives of many today.

• Date Taken: 08.26.2010
• Date Posted: 08.28.2010 11:14
• Story ID: 55314
• Location: CAMP RAMADI, IQ