Being a soldier runs deep in Aletha Calloway’s family.
Her mother, father and two uncles were all in the U.S. Military. Growing up, she recalls many times when her family sat in their Washington D.C. kitchen, talking about their service.
So, when she graduated from high school in 1972, she decided to follow in their footsteps and become a soldier.
However, during her high school graduation ceremony, when her school honored those joining the military, she realized the challenges she would face in choosing this path.
“I’ll never forget it,” the 69-year-old retired veteran said. “All the guys stood up, and then I stood up, and I was like, ‘Why am I joining the Army? Why am I joining the military?’”
Calloway stood as the only Black woman joining the military in her entire graduating class. Standing alone would be a reoccurring event during her basic training and military service, one she overcame and later welcomed.
“I didn’t want to be like my other classmates,” she said. “I wanted to do more. I wanted to be more.”
Women, like Calloway, pioneered their way through racial and gender discrimination as well as a lack of acknowledgement to pave a way for more opportunities for today’s Black female soldiers.
History of racial, gender discrimination in the U.S. Military
Black women have played a pivotal role in the U.S. Military for over 100 years; yet, Black female soldiers and veterans often do not receive the same recognition, support and thanks as their white and male counterparts.
Women’s involvement in the military can be traced back to the Revolutionary War. While they were not permitted to serve, many wives, mothers, sisters and daughters of soldiers traveled alongside the Army to help mend clothes, tend wounds, cook food and clean laundry.
During the Civil War, enslaved people also had roles in the military too, like Cathay Williams.
In 1861, Williams was an Army laundress and cook until she later disguised herself as a man and enlisted into the U.S. Army. She is the first known Black woman to enlist into the military.
During World War II, an all-Black women group, The 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion, sorted and cleared a two-year backlog of mail for about 7 million people during World War II.
Women’s military contributions have been overlooked and unrecognized in the larger sense, but Purdue Professor Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth said their services were valued at some capacity.
“I think nurses in particular have always been appreciated,” she said during an interview. “You know, women nurses have just played such an important role, historically … but women have done lots of other things too, even when they weren’t allowed to be in combat units.”
MacDermid Wadsworth is the director of Purdue’s Military Family Research Institute, where most of her research focuses on relationships between jobs and family life in regard to the military.
Women could officially serve in all branches of the Military in 1948, three years after the end of World War II, but they restricted the number of women who could serve to only 2% of each branch and limited how many women could become officers.
The Integration of the Armed Forces executive order desegregated the military to ensure that Black women could serve in all branches of the military as well.
Calloway’s mother enlisted in the Army in 1949, and while executive order was in place, Calloway said her mother lived in separate barracks than white female soldiers.
Additionally, female soldiers could be discharged if they became pregnant — Calloway’s mother was discharged because she got pregnant —
if they were unable to command men or serve in combat positions. This restriction was rescinded in 1976.
There have been significant advancements for military women in the last century, but MacDermid Wadsworth said there are still improvements that need to be made.
Problematic policies such as requiring soldiers to give blood at the end of basic training — giving blood depletes women’s iron and puts them at a greater risk for injury — that do not “take into account how women’s bodies are different from men’s” will need to be addressed, she said.
Exposure to sexual and/or sexual harassment is also still a big issues for women in the military.
About 78% of the formal sexual harassment claims were made by women, according to the Department of Defence’s Sexual Assault Report for Fiscal Year 2022. This is concerning because women only make up about 17% of the military.
What happens after serving the country
Dr. Dorothy Simpson-Taylor is a proud U.S. Air Force veteran.
After serving from 1963-1965, Simpson-Taylor worked at a Veteran Affairs hospital as a psychologist. Then, she became a professor at Indiana State University and in 2010, created the Sister Soldier Network — a female veteran organization that advocates for female veterans, helps heal their mental wounds and points them to where they can find their eligible benefits.
“I represent that group of women who said, ‘I am going to make a difference,’” she said.
Read more about local Black, female veterans: How Indiana’s Black female veterans support each other after military service
Dedicating over 50 years of her life to helping veterans, the now 78-year-old was inducted into the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame in 2022 for her contributions. However, the pain of racial and gender discrimination still lingers.
Oversexualization is one of the biggest challenges Black women must overcome in the military, Simpson-Taylor said.
“Don’t minimize who I am because of my gender or my race,” she said.
Simpson-Taylor declined to speak about the sexual harassment she experience but described it as “tragic.”
From reintegrating themselves back into society to dealing with mental health complications, life after service can be challenging in countless ways for veterans, regardless of race or gender. Yet, Black and female veterans are often disproportionately impacted.
About 13.3% of Indianapolis’ homeless population are U.S. Military Veterans, and about 54% of that population identified as African American, according to Indiana University’s Public Policy Institute 2021 Point-in-Time Count. Its research also found that of all homeless veterans, 32% were female veterans, even though women make up only 10% of the national veteran population. More senior veterans are also experiencing homelessness, according to IU’s research.
An organization that helps veterans who are experiencing job insecurity and homelessness, Helping Veterans and Families (HVAF), says more than half of the veterans they help — about 58% —are Black.
Women veterans often deal with mental health problems as well, showing up in forms of anxiety, depression and questions of their character, MacDermid Wadsworth said.
“Identity issues are huge for women coming out of the military,” she said. “They are glad to serve. It meant a lot to them, but they also probably had experiences that they didn’t love while they were serving. Even if they didn’t experience sexual assault or anything like that. Even if it was just, you know, people not being welcoming.”
Many Black female veterans struggle with finding acceptance of their experience, but Simpson-Taylor said many would not take away their experience.
“It’s very hard to find a veteran who wouldn’t do it again,” she said.
Recognition to the faceless military heroes
While doors have opened for military women over the years, recognition of female soldiers and acknowledgment of their service continues to be a challenge, especially for Black women, Calloway said.
She recalled an instance where she greeted a male soldier every day. For a year, he never responded back to her. To be a woman in the military, you had to have a strong voice and sense of self, she said.
Calloway was in the Army for four years. She said she was promoted quickly. After becoming a first sergeant, she later found herself stationed in Germany for three years. She began recruiting shortly after returning to Washington D.C in 1980.
Many female soldiers Calloway called friends left the military because they would not stand up for themselves. Others endured the microaggressions and mistreatment at the detriment of their own mental and physical health. Calloway said she stayed brave throughout her experience.
“I never stopped being who I was,” she said. “There were many times I had to stand my ground.”
During a training session at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Calloway had a disagreement with another male soldier.
“I’ll never forget it,” Calloway said. “I snapped. I let him know I’m a soldier. Whether I’m a female or male, I’m a soldier first. Female second. I didn’t waiver on that.”
The next day, the male soldier apologized to her.
Looking back at her experience, Calloway knew she made the right choice by choosing the Army, through all her trials.
Even after retiring and moving to Indianapolis with her husband, who is also an Army veteran, Calloway continued to serve in other ways. She taught Broad Ripple High School’s JROTC, where many of her Black female cadets went on to join the military.
She advises any female soldiers currently enlisted into the U.S. Military to be true to themselves.
“Ladies, just because you’re in the military doesn’t take away from you being a lady,” she said. “Don’t belittle yourself.”
This article was written by Abriana Herron with the support of a journalism fellowship from The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations and The Silver Century Foundation. For more news from the Indianapolis Recorder, click here.
