Female veterans find healing on Honor Flight

Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN By Danielle A. Teigen Today at 4:31 AM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? WASHINGTON — For Judi Mouw, being on the Honor Flight trip to the nation's capital in September healed a wound that still felt fresh even after nearly 60 years. In 1968, Mouw joined the Army Reserves while working as a nurse at St. John's Hospital in Fargo. She spent the next year training men who would become Army medics in Vietnam. She loved it. ADVERTISEMENT Contributed / Becky Johnson In her second year in the Reserves, she met a soldier and widower named John, who had two young children; the pair began dating, fell in love and married in July 1969. The next month, she headed to Colorado for Reserve training for two weeks, and upon return, her commanding officer asked to talk with her. "The colonel said, 'I have good news and bad news, Judi,'" she remembered. "He said, 'You did well, and we're happy to tell you you're going to be honorably discharged.'" The news was a shock. And it was due to a provision in the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act, Public Law 625, which was considered milestone legislation. It established the Women's Army Corps in all branches of the military, yet contained a provision that women with dependents under the age of 18 could not serve. Contributed / Becky Johnson She was devastated. "I loved what I was doing (in the Reserves)," she said. And even though Mouw, 81, remained on the periphery of Army life thanks to her husband's military career, the hurt of being discharged — for becoming a stepmother — never completely faded. ADVERTISEMENT But being one of two women veterans among 239 men who also served their country on the Honor Flight, and being treated as an equal, Mouw said, was like a balm to the wound she had been carrying. "It healed it totally," Mouw said on the last morning of the three-day adventure through Washington, D.C. She even shared a note she planned to give to the Honor Flight organizers that said: "If I ever felt 'less than' or 'unworthy', you made up for it this week," noting the gratitude she felt from everyone on the trip. The other female veteran on the trip, Cindy Jones, 72, was a longtime Honor Flight volunteer before she ever decided to sign up to enjoy the trip as a veteran. Contributed / Cindy Jones Jones grew up in Fargo and graduated from North High School in 1972, but didn't have a clear direction on what to do next. Her mother suggested the military, and Jones was intrigued by the idea, so she joined the Air Force in December and stayed until 1977, working as an orthopedic medic in San Antonio, Texas, on many POWs who returned from Vietnam. "I was honored to take care of the ones on my floor," Jones said. Contributed / Cindy Jones After leaving the Air Force, Jones joined the 119th Wing of the North Dakota Air National Guard and retired from being a Happy Hooligan in 1994. Jones never married, but she welcomed her daughter Krista in 1988; by then, the Supreme Court had ruled that those restrictions and provisions of the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act were unconstitutional and discriminatory, so Jones was not discharged for having a child. ADVERTISEMENT After Mouw was discharged in 1969, she threw herself into being a mom to her new children, 12-year-old Esther and 6-year-old Robert, and she and John added their daughter Becky in 1970. 1 / 2: John and Judi Mouw are pictured with their children Becky, Robert and Esther. Contributed / Becky Johnson 2 / 2: Judi and John Mouw are pictured with their children Esther and Robert shortly after Judi and John married. Contributed / Becky Johnson And even though she was no longer training medics in the Army Reserves, Mouw continued using the degree she'd earned from St. Andrew's Hospital School of Nursing in Bottineau in 1967 by working as a registered nurse in various specialties until she retired in 2012. Both Mouw and Jones shared that the experience of being on an Honor Flight was incredible, with Mouw noting — with tears in her eyes, no less — that there were no words to describe how she'd felt for the three days. "All I could do is cry," Mouw said. Jones agreed. "I'm having the best time," she said at the end of the second day of the trip. Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN Both women were also honored for their service at the Military Women's Memorial, where they were presented with a bound biography describing their service, including Jones' time at the Grand Forks Air Force Base during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. It was a special surprise on an already special trip. ADVERTISEMENT "I just thought they were going to take a picture of us," Jones said. Neither woman knew they were going to be praised for their service and presented with their official military biography. "We did not know about the whole ceremony," Mouw said. An especially poignant aspect of the trip for Mouw was being able to participate with her daughter, Becky Johnson, whom she welcomed the year after being honorably discharged from the Army Reserves. Johnson said she grew up always knowing about her mother's military career — and what cut it so short. Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN "I don't remember not knowing," she said. "And that had an impact on my perception of the military and what they (women) were allowed to do." The trip healed Johnson as well. "So many people now feel honored in a way they hadn't before," she said. "And that's been lovely." ADVERTISEMENT Johnson also noted how many of the men stayed in the Military Women's Memorial to watch her mother and Jones be recognized for their service. "They didn't have to be a part of it, but they were," she said. Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN Mouw hopes that more women veterans will sign up to participate in future Honor Flights. "I wish they knew they were welcome on Honor Flight," she said. Mouw had originally signed up to escort her husband John on a previous Honor Flight, but she ended up not being able to go due to a health issue, so their son Robert escorted John in May. He had such a wonderful time that Mouw reached out to an Honor Flight volunteer to thank everyone for making the trip so memorable for her husband and son. Shortly after, that Honor Flight volunteer called Mouw to ask if she wanted to go on the September Honor Flight — as a veteran. "And all I could do was cry," Mouw said again. ADVERTISEMENT Take a look at Judi and Cindy's Honor Flight experience 1 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 2 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 3 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 4 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 5 / 20: All of the Army veterans pose at the army museum. Judi Mouw is in the center of the first standing row wearing a red shirt and cap. Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 6 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 7 / 20: Cindy Jones, standing in the center in grey, poses with other Air Force veterans. Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 8 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 9 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 10 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 11 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 12 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 13 / 20: Contributed / Monica Krenz, Veterans Honor Flight of ND/MN 14 / 20: Contribute