We made it through with flying colors at the Military Women’s Memorial but before we get to our stories, I shared two pictures of Flo soaking wet on her birthday and the crew soaking wet. We walked 4 blocks in the rain to get to the WWI Memorial for me to play taps. They had blocked off the area where we were to park across from the Memorial. I had to change with the back of the Yukon door up trying to not get wet. It was quite a site but I pulled my wool pants up over my shorts, put my wool jacket on over my t-shirt, got my boots on, and off we walked. At first there was a slight rain but by the time we got to our block, it was coming down. We landed under a cover at the Willard and by then it was pouring. There was security everywhere and there were dump trucks parked all along the side of the hotel. There was definitely something going on. We waited until a few minutes before 5pm so I could get ready to play taps. Right before I started, it quit raining – kinda amazing. The crew stayed right by my side. I was the only one with a jacket but remember my jacket is over 100 years old. No water got under me but I was roasting. My crew is pretty awesome to stay by my side in the rain. We all laughed at how we looked but we would all do it again. It was so awesome to look up while I was standing there to see the Washington Monument and to play over the WWI Memorial. I felt such a peace before I played.
We finished our Friday evening with good food Jeanine had made and a great cake for Flo’s birthday.
Saturday we started to the Military Women’s Memorial. First we picked up Gail and Kay, two of my WAC Sisters who had come in from SC to help us out. We arrived on the road to the Women’s Memorial and the security guy said our name wasn’t on the list. We had to park at the Visitor’s Center which is like 4 Big blocks away. We had all this stuff to drop off. Up comes an employee from the Memorial and we told her we had to get in. She told us we couldn’t park there because there were other people that needed to park. I told her I was disabled. She told us to go drop off our stuff and she would drive the car back to the parking lot. I told her no and that the car was a rental and I was responsible for it. By this time I am mad. I asked who could I call to get us in and she said no one. I drove up and dropped everyone off and said I would be back but I needed to walk off how upset I was. They made it so hard on me, a disabled veteran, and the Quilts of Honor crew. We were the Program giving out over 70 Quilts, a value of over $100,000, to female veterans. Guess that doesn’t deserve a parking spot.
We couldn’t do our quilts properly after we finished our program as we didn’t have a place to put them and the car was too far away.
We did a great job giving out the quilts. There were a lot of no-shows which makes it hard but those who received their quilts were very appreciative.
There was a family of three generations of Army, the mother WWI, daughter Vietnam nurse, and current Operation Enduring Freedom veteran. They got a standing ovation. Then I got to give my new friend, SFC Chelsea, Tomb Guard Leader. When she comes on stage she says, “Gail don’t joke me” but she knew I was going to tell her story. To be the first female in 100 years to be a Tomb Guard Leader – she got a standing ovation.
When we unveiled the first 5 quilts you could hear the gasps from the audience. It got louder each time and they all wanted to see their quilts. It took our whole crew to keep it moving. We got so many blessings doing this and many tears of veterans coming up to us, thanking us, for what we are doing.
We did our job and we did us proud. This crew gave their all. Our friends, Uniting US, were there for every need. We were thankful to be able to honor these female veterans. It needs to be done more often.
Stay tuned as we call it a night. Enjoy the pictures – we will have more.
God’s blessings
Gail
Crew – A Little Drowned 
Flo – A Little Drowned 
Flo’s Birthday 
Flo’s Birthday Cake 
Jeanines Cooking 
First Group 
First Five 
Second Group 
AnnMarie, CEO
Uniting US
Army All the Way 
BG Air Force 
General and Donna 
Sentinel Guard SFC Chelsea 
Crew, Carla, Chelsea 
Donna
Works at Memorial
Female Veterans 
Female Veterans 
Female Veterans 
Female Veterans 
Female Veterans 
Female Veterans 
Female Veterans 
Female Veterans 
Female Veterans 
Jennifer With Quilt 
Phyllis Wilson, CEO 
Phyllis Wilson, CEO 
Phyllis Wilson and
Female Veterans
Phyllis Wilson and
Female Veterans
Three Generations of Army 
Three Generations – Army 
Pops – We Made It
Quilts of Honor 