Honoring the role of women veterans

Carol Harlow, the chief development and communications officer for the Honor Flight Network, joins The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast this week. Also appearing is Terry Campbell, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran who also served in the Air Force Reserves. She was among the guests on the first all-women Honor Flight in October 2021.

Campbell, who applied in 2016, learned about the all-women’s flight that Chicago Honor Flight was coordinating with the HerStory Foundation to send around 100 women veterans to the memorials.

“It was an experience I will never forget,” she says. “I learned so much about the military, as well as women who stayed in for careers, women who had a broad spectrum of service.”

Campbell also recalls her first experience with The American Legion in Cincinnati as a young girl. Her dad, who was a member, helped her join the post’s drill team. “That was truly an honor because at that time, in the early 1960s, you didn’t get to do that in school as a minority. To do it through The American Legion was honorable.”

There are two more all-women flights planned in the coming months, however, both are full. Harlow, an American Legion Auxiliary member since 1998, emphasized to women that they should not wait for one of those flights because they are rare.

“We need more women to understand that every Honor Flight is an honor flight they can go on,” says Harlow. “Women are on every honor flight. You don’t have to wait.”

She encouraged every veteran to recommend a woman veteran for the Honor Flight list, noting they prioritize World War II, Korea and Vietnam War veterans first, as well as any who have a terminal illness.

Soon, the Honor Flight Network expects to bring its 250,000th veteran to see the memorials in Washington, D.C., since its start in 2005. Harlow encouraged veterans to visit the website to learn more.

“It’s full circle for The American Legion Family,” she says. “To be participating with Honor Flight. We all know different departments that are already working with Honor Flight.”

This episode is among more than 110 Tango Alpha Lima podcast for veterans, servicemembers and others. All episodes are available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on iTunes, Stitcher or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available for viewing at the Legion’s YouTube channel.