The nation’s capital will get its first statue honoring America’s military women when “The Pledge” is unveiled at the Women In Military Service For America Memorial on Oct. 17 at Arlington National Cemetery.
The bronze sculpture – to be placed in the center of the memorial’s lobby -- depicts a woman in combat gear kneeling and face-to-face with a military service dog, which she is about to lead into battle.
It represents the woman’s and her dog’s pledge to their country, as well as to each other, sculptor Susan Bahary told Stars & Stripes.
“I designed it to represent — in an emotional way — the strength, capability and compassion of all our service women,” Bahary said. “Sometimes bringing in an animal has a special effect of drawing people in and making their hearts more open. I think once we open our hearts, we’re able to accept the message more easily.”
The base of the statue says it honors “all women of the U.S. military, past present and future.”
One side of the monument will be inscribed with a quote from Lt. Anne Sosh Brehm, who served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II: “Let the generations know that women in uniform also guaranteed their freedom. That our resolve was just as great as the brave men who stand among us. And with victory, our hearts were just as full and beat just as fast — that the tears fell just as hard for those we left behind.”
“The Pledge” was commissioned by the U.S. War Dogs Association and is intended to honor women veterans and military dogs.
The memorial, which was opened in 1997 and features several exhibits on women serving in the various branches of the military since the Revolutionary War has been closed for the past seven months. It will unveil the statue in a private ceremony and reopen to the public the following day, Oct. 18.
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