MWAN Redwood Empire Unit 77

03/24/2026

03/18/2026

Please join us for National Rosie the Riveter Day THIS Saturday, March 21 from 11am to 2pm the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park

03/17/2026

“Let the generations know that women in uniform also guaranteed their freedom. That our resolve was just as great as the brave men who stood among us. And with victory, our hearts were just as full and beat just as fast-that the tears fell just as hard for those we left behind.” – Anne Brehm, 1LT, U.S. Army Nurse Corps WWII

The third week of March is widely recognized as Women’s Military History Week. This week we invite our community to share the stories of women who have served and honor their leadership and sacrifice in the bold pursuit of freedom.

Connect with the veterans in your community, or find a story of service at https://foundationforwomenwarriors.org/category/women-warriors/

03/16/2026

03/15/2026

The cockpit of a KC 135 Stratotanker is not just a workplace.
It is where trust lives. Where missions begin. And where some sacrifices are made.
On a mission over western Iraq, 1st Lt. Ariana A. Bouche climbed into that cockpit doing what she loved most.
Flying. Serving. Protecting the mission that keeps others in the sky.
But the aircraft never made it home.
The crash claimed the lives of 6 American service members, including Ariana, a young U.S. Air Force pilot who had already dedicated herself to something larger than her own life.
To the world, she wore the uniform of an officer.
Inside the squadron, she was a teammate pilots trusted when the skies demanded absolute precision.
Because flying the KC 135 is not simple aviation.
It is one of the most demanding roles in military flight.
Refueling aircraft mid air.
Extending missions across continents.
Keeping fighters, bombers, and reconnaissance crews in the fight.
Every tanker pilot carries the responsibility of entire missions depending on their skill.
Ariana carried that responsibility with pride.
But beyond the cockpit and the call sign was a young woman with dreams, friendships, and a family who believed in her.
A daughter. A friend. An airman who chose the sky as her path of service.
Today, the Air Force community remembers more than a pilot.
They remember a life dedicated to flight and duty.
Rest in peace, Lieutenant. 1st Lt. Ariana A. Bouche. 2026.

03/05/2026

Save the Date!

Join us in celebrating National Rosie the Riveter Day on Saturday, March 21, from 11 AM–2 PM at Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park.

Learn more: https://go.nps.gov/1i3p2n

02/24/2026

Our hearts break as we bid farewell to “Rosie the Riveter” Lila Tomek, who has passed at 101, a quiet giant of the Greatest Generation, a woman whose courage echoed far beyond the factory walls she once stood within. At just 19, while others clung to comfort, Lila stepped into history. She left behind her office job in Pawnee City, Nebraska, as her two younger brothers marched toward war, one to the battlefields of Europe, the other into the vast uncertainty of the Pacific. She could not carry a rifle, but she carried something just as powerful: resolve. And so she chose her battlefield, the roaring production lines of the Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant near Omaha.🕊️🇺🇸

Amid thunderous machinery and the constant hum of urgency, her steady hands helped build the B-26 Marauder and the B-29 Superfortress, aircraft that bore the weight of hope for a world desperate for peace. Each rivet she fastened was an act of defiance against tyranny. Each shift she worked was a prayer for her brothers’ safe return.

As victory crept closer, Lila was entrusted with a mission cloaked in secrecy, preparing aircraft for a purpose history would later reveal. She asked no questions. She sought no praise. She simply served. Because true bravery does not always stand on the front lines. Sometimes, it stands at a workbench, sleeves rolled, heart steadfast.

When the war finally fell silent, she returned home not as someone seeking recognition, but as someone ready to build again, this time a family, a marriage with her beloved Rudy Tomek, and a lifetime of service to her community. Her strength was never loud. Her humility never wavered. Her legacy never needed applause.

Today, we do more than remember her, we honor her. A woman who helped forge victory with her bare hands. A sister who carried fear and faith in equal measure. A hero who proved that sacrifice wears many faces.

12/21/2025

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is one of the most rigidly guarded traditions in the United
States military. Every movement is measured. Every standard is enforced without exception. For
decades, leadership at the Tomb was implicitly male.
Chelsea Porterfield changed that.
Serving with the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, Porterfield earned the Tomb Guard Identification
Badge, one of the Army’s rarest honors, awarded only after intense physical, mental, and
ceremonial qualification. She was the fifth woman to earn it.
Then she went further.
Porterfield became the first female Sergeant of the Guard at the Tomb, a role responsible not
only for the watch itself but for enforcing discipline, correcting errors, and protecting a tradition
that allows no improvisation and no excuses. Authority there is not symbolic. It is absolute and
constantly tested.
In 2021, she led the first all female guard change in the Tomb’s history. Not as a statement. As a
result of qualification.
After retiring from the Army, Porterfield did not step away from service. She now advocates for
veteran su***de prevention through the Society of the Honor Guard, focusing on the lives behind
the uniforms and the cost of carrying silence.
Her story matters because institutions rarely announce when women are excluded. They simply
set standards no one expects women to meet.
Porterfield met them anyway.
Not by asking for space.
By earning it.
She did not redefine the tradition.
She proved she belonged at its center.

12/03/2025