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Women Veterans Honored at Military Museum

BOALSBURG — In celebration of Women’s History Month, on Saturday, March 23, at the Pennsylvania Military Museum in Boalsburg, “A Walk in Her Boots” was hosted by Her Boots, a new nonprofit founded to provide support to female veterans.

Founded by Amanda Strandburg and Elizabeth Maines, who both have served in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard for 15 years, Her Boots serves as a central point of contact for female veterans to gather resources and build community in their transition to civilian life.

“Serving female veterans is extremely important to us; that’s what this initiative is for,” Strandburg said.  “We want to give back to our community because women are underrepresented during and post service.”

After experiencing and witnessing the different challenges and obstacles women face while in and out of service, Strandburg and Maines came together to create Her Boots.

“We are here to support all female veterans because we know the toll that being in the military takes on female veterans,” Maines said. “We can help them. We can navigate any red tape with them. We can help put them into contact with a direct person instead of them having to go through being passed around to different people on the phone.”

Female veterans face a wide range of challenges when transitioning back to civilian life, Strandburg explained, including being two times more likely than their male counterparts to become unemployed, five times more like to become homeless and two times more likely to commit suicide. Her Boots aims to fight against those statistics for female veterans in Pennsylvania.

“Many female veterans also struggle with poverty or being right above the poverty line. That is one thing we are trying to change, to help veterans find better employment,” Strandburg said. “We are trying to better our communities by being a resource to better our futures.”

The inaugural event for Her Boots featured guest speaker Pamela Robb, who joined the U.S. Army in 1976 and served for six years.

“Allow me to take you on a journey of a military walk in my boots,” Robb started before launching into her experience as a woman in the military.

“As a female soldier, we work harder to show we belong and that we are strong and that we are good soldiers. We are worthy of being called an outstanding soldier,” Robb said in her speech. “I stand on the shoulders of trailblazers, who didn’t give up and who didn’t give in when the going got tough. Each and every woman is a soldier in her own way, and each woman must walk in her own boots.”

After her speech, Robb, who is currently chair of the Patton Township Board of Supervisors, shared more about the different challenges that women face when serving, and how communities can support their transition to civilian life.

“One of the challenges (for women in the military) is simply being seen,” Robb said. “For example, we have different medical conditions that male soldiers do not. It’s important to have a program that focuses on women’s health. As we continue to educate, it’s important to get our elected officials involved, our state and local officials to hear us. All soldiers and all veterans need help.”

Multiple state and local officials, including Pennsylvania state Rep. Paul Takac and Centre County Commissioner Chair Mark Higgins, attended the inaugural event.

“Her Boots is a great organization that is raising awareness of a story that is becoming more common,” Higgins shared. “We have more women serving in the military than ever before. It’s important to get their stories out there, to have people realize that the phrase ‘women hold up the sky’ is said for a reason. Women are a major part of our armed forces, and they deserve support.”

Her Boots also works alongside the Sisters in Arms coalition, an organization that puts on monthly virtual events for veteran support. Those looking to participate in future Her Boots events or receive support from the organization can join the Her Boots Facebook page or visit herboots.org.