A cake made to celebrate women veterans. Photo: Angelina Keizer
By Angelina Keizer
It may have taken Sanford up until now to do it, but last weekend the town righted its wrongs in celebrating Women Veterans Appreciation Day with a luncheon for women who served their country. Joe Armstrong of Chapter Champlain from Somerville, MA, served as chair of the women’s veterans ceremony committee and kicked off Rolling Thunder’s inaugural Women Veterans Luncheon with a speech, “Honoring women veterans is often overlooked.”
On June 13, 44 people gathered at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall on School Street to honor and appreciate the women who served in the armed forces. Twenty-five of the 44 who attended were women veterans and received an appreciation coin.
Rolling Thunder is a local volunteer-driven group dedicated to supporting veterans. They focus on charitable work to meet the needs of all veterans in their community. Meetings are held in the VFW Hall on the first Sunday of each month at noon.
Guest speaker and veteran Lt. Rebecca Cornell du Houx recalled during her speech, a time about a year ago when she was on active duty in Jordan. She sat in a bunker, questioning whether she was ready to die there surrounded by strangers at the time—who later would become her brothers and sisters. “It’s in those hard times we need that camaraderie,” she said.
Joining the Maine Army National Guard while in high school, Cornell du Houx worked as a carpentry/masonry specialist with the 133rd Engineer Battalion. Later she trained as an EMT and combat medic in the Army National Guard’s Medical Detachment. After graduating from the University of Maine with a degree in psychology, she became a licensed clinical social worker.
Cornell du Houx is the founder of a nonprofit, Sisters in Arms Center, for women veterans. It provides emergency housing navigation, advocacy, community engagement and trauma services. “I’ve had the privilege of meeting some of the most remarkable and resilient women,” she said.
“She advocates fiercely and makes sure no women in Maine have to walk alone,” Armstrong said in his introduction.
Susan Sajecki, Biddeford resident and Navy veteran, was one of the first females on an amphibious repair ship as a quartermaster and ship navigator. “What we did mattered,” she said. “The country doesn’t honor us well, but they’re getting better.”
Sajecki followed in the footsteps of her father and uncle, who were in the Navy. “I did an early enlistment right after high school,” she said.
Fellow veteran and Wells resident Julie Burnett remembered how her mother was thrilled when she made the decision to enlist. “I told my mom and she said, ‘It’s about time’,” said Burnett. She faced a lot of bullying taking on the role of heavy equipment wheeled mechanic in Fort Riley, KS, as a woman. “I ignored them and stayed in my room,” she said.
Before the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on June 12, 1948, women could serve only as nurses in the regular and reserve forces during peacetime. Women Veterans Appreciation Day marks the anniversary on the day the act was signed. The state of Maine was the 15th state to recognize Women Veterans Day through a proclamation by Gov. Janet Mills in 2019.
“We have to work twice as hard to get as little as possible,” Burnett said. Sajecki seconded that; both emphasized that the luncheon meant “everything” to them.
For young women who are thinking about enlisting, Sajecki’s piece of advice is, “Clear your head and prepare to be yelled at.” After reminiscing on the good and bad times during her time served, Sajecki said she would do it again.
“Their services mattered, their sacrifices mattered, and they still matter today,” said Armstrong.
This piece was produced through the training and support of Journalism New England’s Career Lab.
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