Fort Leavenworth resident Danielle Springall, a U.S. Army veteran who was motivated to enlist after the acts of terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001, continues to find ways to show her patriotism.
“I saw the heroism and bravery shown by so many following the tragedy of (9-11), and knew I had to do something, too. Fresh out of high school, and as soon as I turned 18, I chose to join the Army,” said Springall, a former Army medic who served four years on active duty in the Army and then two more years in the Reserves.
Among Springall’s post-Army volunteering contributions, she serves as an ambassador for Pin-Ups For Vets, a nonprofit organization that raises money for veterans’ healthcare and other needs, mostly through the sales of a calendar featuring female veterans decked out in the fancy attire and retro hair and makeup of World War II-era pin-up girls.
After three years of applying to be one of those veteran pin-up girls, Springall was selected to be “Miss April” in the 2025 Pin-Ups For Vets calendar.
“Not only am I absolutely thrilled by what (Pin-Ups For Vets) is doing for the veteran community, but there is nothing I love more than putting a smile on a veteran’s face. I was excited to have the opportunity to combine two things I love — spending time getting to know other veterans and the elegance and class of 1940s and ‘50s style — by being an ambassador for the program. Being selected to be in the 2025 calendar was icing on the cake for me!”
Pin-Ups For Vets Founder Gina Elise said Springall was one of only 13 female former service members chosen in a nationwide search to be featured in the 19th edition of the calendar.
“Each year we create a calendar featuring female vets from across the country. The calendar fundraises for everything we do for the veteran community, from donating rehab equipment to VA hospitals, to shipping care packages to troops, to our 50-state Veterans Hospital Tour where we have visited with 20,000 vets to deliver gifts of appreciation,” Elise said.
Springall visited the Leavenworth Veterans Affairs Medical Center, as well as VA hospital and nursing home facilities in Kansas City and Cameron, Missouri, earlier this year as a Pin-Ups For Vets ambassador to deliver calendar gifts and show appreciation for her fellow veterans.
“The female vets who volunteer with us on veterans hospital visits across the country claim that this has given them purpose again after leaving the military — ‘service after service,’” Elise said. “They have also said that doing this helps them to embrace their femininity after being in a male-dominated military.”
Springall said she enlisted as a combat medic so she could care for other soldiers, providing care as an urgent care clinic supervisor, battalion mental health counselor and personal medic to hundreds of soldiers. She was assigned to the 302nd Forward Support Battalion in South Korea and to the 62nd Engineer Battalion in Texas, and she served with the engineers on a deployment to Iraq. She was recognized as the 2nd Infantry Division’s Medic of the Cycle in 2005 and received a Combat Action Badge during her deployment.
“When I returned from Iraq, I began building a family of my own, and decided that it was time for the next chapter in my life,” she said. “Now I have four amazing children (17-year-old Cameron, a senior at Leavenworth High School; 12-year-old Eli, a seventh-grader at Patton Junior High School; 10-year-old Owen, a fifth-grader at Bradley Elementary School; and 7-year-old Abby, a second-grader at Bradley), and I spend my time volunteering with veterans’ organizations and helping women feel beautiful, fulfilled and worthy every day. I am so grateful for the skills and experiences I had in the Army, and I love having opportunities to continue serving still.”
Among the ways she serves is as chaplain for VFW Post 56 in Leavenworth. Springall was a member of the VFW when she got out of the service several years ago, and she renewed her connection about five years ago with VFW Post 56 in Leavenworth. She started serving on the VFW House Committee, and then was asked by the post commander to become the VFW chaplain after the passing of longtime VFW Chaplain (Col.) Gary “Sam” Sanford last year.
“I jumped on that (opportunity), because I love that realm, too. I like just the idea of being a spiritual support and bringing two aspects of my life together — it felt like a good fit for me,” said Springall, who also serves as the multiple-post district chaplain and secretary/treasurer of the local DAV.
“I wear a couple of hats, and I like volunteering, and all of those roles allow me to do it and still have flexibility with (my children),” the divorced mother of four said.
With her VFW chaplain duties, Springall conducts prayers at monthly meetings, prays with veterans who reach out to talk with her, visits veterans in the hospital and sometimes speaks at memorial services. She has been conducting a VFW member survey to help build camaraderie through activities, events and projects.
“We have a really good post here, with a lot of people in this area — because it is such a transient community, getting people in just for the short time, we want them to have that community here.”
Springall said making that community family-friendly is important to her, as she often has her children in tow when she is at the VFW.
“She is a very people person,” Owen said about his mom. “For her to be doing all of this stuff is just amazing, that she can do all of this. She is very active in the community, and I think it is kind of hard to do that stuff, and she is one of the people who can do it. When you get brought to (volunteering events), you get an insight on stuff that not a lot of kids see when their mom goes to the VFW.”
Springall has been dressing up in the classic pin-up theme for years, including serving as the host for the annual Labor Day weekend Pistons ‘N’ Pinups car show in Kansas City, Kansas, and so she said the 1940s and 1950s trademark style of Pin-Ups For Vets appealed to her.
“You think about the girls (painted) on the sides of planes during (World War II), and that’s kind of the vibe that they do a lot of … so when I found out about that organization I was like, ‘OK, this is a good fit.’ It’s something I’m already doing, and I loved their mission.”
She said she loves hearing veterans’ stories during her ambassador visits to area VA facilities.
“For me I feel like I’m bringing back nostalgia to some of these people, that that’s a time that they might want to reminisce about,” Springall said. “I think they think it is more exciting if they think a pin-up girl is coming (to visit), even the female veterans — I talk with them just as much as I do the male veterans. I don’t know if it is because you are dressed like that or not, but I do find it is almost like it is inviting when someone is dressed up and bringing a gift,” which she said could be calendars or other treats. “They are a little more comfortable, I think, just opening up and talking.”
When Springall started as a Pin-Up For Vets ambassador about a year ago, her children said they were already accustomed to seeing her transform from mom to pin-up girl, with Eli jokingly noting that she has “thousands” of wigs (only 120, actually), and they described her as very focused when she has a pin-up event coming up.
“She does this (dresses up) for every pin-up show that she does, so it’s not surprising, really, but then when I saw she was going to be on a calendar, my mind just blew, because there are a lot of people who could have done this, and one of them just so happened to be my mom, and I was like ‘Wow!’ I didn’t even know this was going to be possible,” Owen said about his mom being featured in the calendar as “Miss April.”
Springall said the calendar photo shoot took place in Manhattan Beach, California, on a pier and in a house filled with vintage 1950s décor.
“(The experience) was so fun,” Springall said. “I felt like a superstar when I went there. The mayor took us around the city, and people were buying us drinks, and it felt like we were famous for a day.”
Springall said every branch of service, except for Space Force, is represented in the calendar by the featured veterans, which include two Purple Heart recipients and a retired lieutenant colonel, and she also likes that the calendar has all of the military holidays noted throughout the year.
To learn more about the nonprofit organization and/or to order a calendar, visit www.pinupsforvets.com.
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