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Okaloosa County honors women veterans at third annual recognition ceremony
Summary
Okaloosa County Commissioner Carolyn Kechel and Colonel Kristen Wood led remarks at a ceremony recognizing women veterans, recounting historical contributions and urging attendees to share stories and build diverse teams to solve community problems.
Okaloosa County Commissioner Carolyn Kechel opened the countyDistrict 2 welcomed attendees to the third annual Women Veterans Recognition Day ceremony and introduced Colonel Kristen Wood as the eventguest speaker. Kechel said Florida declared June 12 WomenVeterans Recognition Day in 2021 and that 20 states, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, have followed that observance.
Kechel recounted examples of women veterans' historical service: that more than 400 women served in Union and Confederate forces during the Civil War; that Cathay Williams enlisted under the name William Cathay and later served with the Buffalo Soldiers; that roughly 35,000 women served in World War I as nurses and support staff, including the Signal Corps female telephone operators known as the "Hello Girls"; that about 140,000 women served in World War II in the Women's Army Corps (WACs); and that Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) logged more than 60,000 miles in two years. She also noted that President Harry S. Truman signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act on June 12, 1948, which Kechel said allowed women to serve in the regular armed forces.
Colonel Kristen Wood, identified in remarks as the commander of the 1st Special Operations Mission Support Group at Hurlburt Field, praised the community for attending and urged attendees to draw on diverse experiences to solve problems. "If you put a bunch of me's in the room ... you're only gonna get one solution," Wood said, adding that mixing people with different backgrounds produces stronger results. She gave attendees three requests: "Tell your story," "listen and embrace each other's stories," and use those shared stories to "build teams of diverse backgrounds and experiences to solve our community's most pressing issues together." Wood closed by thanking Kechel and the women veterans in attendance.
The ceremony also referenced a statue to Cathay Williams in Veterans Park, which Kechel said honors Williams's service. The event combined historical context about women's military service with a community appeal for storytelling and inclusive teamwork.
No formal actions, votes, or policy decisions were announced at the ceremony.
