FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. - The Fort Meade garrison, along with the Defense Information School, commemorated Women's Equality Day on Friday with more than 100 in attendance at McGill Training Center.
This date, Aug. 26, was designated in 1971 in recognition of the 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote.
"Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle," said Staff Sgt. Tanja Eitel, master of ceremonies.
The annual observance "marks women's continuing efforts toward full equality," said Eitel.
Keynote speaker Command Master Chief Evelyn "Vonn" Banks, who visited from Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., warmly welcomed those in attendance.
"I feel at home with the Army," Banks said. "I was supposed to be in the Army, but the recruitment line was just too long."
Banks joked with the audience, but the keynote speaker focused much of her message on unity, thankfulness and service.
The only girl in a family of boys, Banks said she learned early that it is better to ask "why" instead of being resentful over feelings of inequality. She learned that being graceful would get her further than complaining about not being able to play on her brothers' football team.
"We've come a long way, and we still have a long way to go," Banks said. "Can we go forward by saying a little more 'thank you,' a little more 'Can I serve you?' "
More than 2 million women are now military veterans, Eitel said. In 2008, 11 percent of veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq operations were women. These numbers are expected to rise.
Following Banks' talk, several in the community read poetry including Capt. Candice Adams, instructor at the DINFOS Public Affairs Leadership department, a breast cancer survivor who shared her experience with "Dear Cancer."
"I wouldn't be alive today if it were not for women before me who fought fanatically for women's health care rights," Adams said. "Days like today remind us not to take the strides women have made for granted."
Refreshments and food sampling were available following the presentation, as the community continued to reflect on women's equality by talking among one another and viewing displays.
For Staff Sgt. Andy Rodriguez, of the 741st Military Intelligence Battalion, the message from Banks was not only about her own life -- it was about "our" lives, she said.
"I enjoyed the emotion she brought and the happiness she expressed," Rodriguez said. "I found myself in her story. Some of the same things happen to us all, regardless of age and gender."
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