Local Women Veterans Group Becomes Nationally Chartered

Several dozen women who served in all branches of the military met Saturday to celebrate the Tri-State Women Veterans group achieving nationally chartered and official non-profit status.

News 12 spoke with Rita Waller who was the first African-American woman to be commissioned through UTC’s ROTC program after having already served as a Marine.

"They recruited me because I said, ‘I want to go to Vietnam’ and they said, ‘sign your name on the dotted line and you’re a go’," said Waller.

Though she never made it to Vietnam, in 1970, Waller did join the Marine Corps and later graduated from UTC as an Army officer.

"It was through the corps that I learned the idea of camaraderie with other females," said Waller. "I learned how to stand my ground. I learned how to complete a task I said I would do."

There are currently five thousand women veterans in the greater Chattanooga area: veterans of all ages and having served in all branches.

There is only one local group to bring these women together who share a very unique experience.

"You know, you see alot of our male veterans because they wear the hats and the t-shirts and such," said retired Navy Commander Patty Parks. "But women veterans, alot of times you just don’t know they’re veterans, so they’re not talking about their experiences, good or bad."

Saturday, the group achieved official, chartered status, now considered a non-profit and part of a national organization of women who have served in the military.

"What we did here today was we took our little unit and chartered with a national unit so we are now still Tri-State Women Veterans but we are unit number 157 of Military Women Across the Nation."

Besides providing fellowship, this group offers assistance for women veterans learning about benefits they are eligible for.