Resolution urges U.S. Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp series honoring women veterans of the Armed Forces 

November 6, 2019 - WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Martha McSally (R-AZ), Jon Tester (D-MT), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) on Tuesday introduced the Senate companion to a House resolution urging the U.S. Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp series honoring women veterans of the Armed Forces and calling for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp series be issued.

(Left) U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA)

"Captain Jennifer M. Moreno of California courageously sacrificed her life to protect others," said Senator Harris. "We will never be able to repay the enormous debt we owe Captain Moreno and all of our service members and their families, but I am proud to join my colleagues to honor our women veterans and pay tribute to the contributions they have made to our country."

There are approximately 2,000,000 women veterans of the Armed Forces currently living in the United States and Puerto Rico, who have served the United States with honor and distinction; and yet, their service is often forgotten, and they become invisible veterans. Women veterans of the Armed Forces have made invaluable contributions to the United States since the American Revolution. All women who have served in the Armed Forces throughout our Nation's history, whether on the frontlines, in support positions behind the lines, or here at home have marked a trail of honor for those who will follow them. These women warriors should be honored for their service and recognized for their important contributions to the United States. The bipartisan resolution recognizes historic women veterans such as:

• Deborah Sampson of Massachusetts, who disguised herself as a man in order to fight in the Revolutionary War, was wounded in battle, and was the only woman to earn a military pension for her service in the Revolutionary Army;
• Dr. Mary Edwards Walker of New York, who served as a surgeon for the Union during the American Civil War and is the only woman to have been awarded the Medal of Honor;
• Cathay Williams of Missouri, who was born a slave, enlisted in the Regular Army disguised as a man, and served in the American West for three years;
• Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee, Canadian born but resided in Florida upon her death, a nurse in the Navy who served during World War I, and who was the first woman to receive the Navy Cross;
• Hazel Lee of Oregon, the first Asian-American woman to become a pilot in the Armed Forces, and who flew with the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II;
• Colonel Mary Louise Rasmuson of Alaska, who enlisted in the Army as a private during World War II, was appointed by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy as Director of the Women's Army Corps (WAC), worked to successfully integrate Black women into the WAC, ensured that the Army opened new military occupational specialties to active duty enlisted women and women reservists, and successfully fought for active duty credit for service in the precursor to the WAC;
• Margaret Zane Fleming of New York and her 12 colleagues with the 1st Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, who landed at Inchon, Korea, on September 15, 1950, and the many other nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists, and other women who saved lives on the front lines of the Korean War;
• Specialist Lori Piestewa of Arizona, a member of the Hopi Tribe, who was the first Native American woman in history to die in combat while serving in the Armed Forces and the first woman member of the Armed Forces killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom;
• First Lieutenant Ashley White of Ohio and Captain Jennifer Moreno of California, both soldiers and members of the Cultural Support Teams of the Army, who gave their lives for the United States while serving in action alongside the special operations forces they supported in Afghanistan; and
• United States Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent of New York, a cryptologic technician who was killed in action in Manbij, Syria.

Full text of the resolution can be found HERE.
Source: Senator Kamala D. Harris