“These females have served their country. They deserve the respect and honor that we give the men,” said U.S. Army veteran Terri Yetzbacher at Thursday evening’s women in military program at the Iola Public Library. 
Yetzbacher was one of three Iola women to share their military experiences. Joining her were Christine Tholen, U.S. Air Force, and Shauna Berntsen, U.S. Army National Guard. The trio’s military service ranged from the 1970s to 2003.
Library Assistant Colleen Dobbins said the book, “The Women,” inspired her to organize the program, the book centers on the experience of enlisted women in the Vietnam War.
Dobbins noted women were made full members of the Armed Forces in 1948. “But women have always served in the military in this country, going back to the Revolutionary War,” she said.
The Women’s Army Corps was disbanded and integrated with the male units in 1978. There were 265,000 women who served in the Vietnam War, with eight dying in service. “Their names are included in the memorial wall in Washington, D.C.,” said Dobbins. Today, 18% of the U.S. Armed Forces are women and they serve in every branch.
Making history
Yetzbacher joined the Women’s Army Corps in 1974. “We wore dresses or skirts and we weren’t allowed to wear pants,” she recalled. The Women’s Army Corps was changing at that time. Women were given two avenues — military police or being an auto mechanic. Yetzbacher chose military police. After training, she was transferred to Leavenworth.
She eventually received orders to deploy to South Korea. After an incident where she was attacked by a female Korean, Yetzbacher began karate courses so she could properly defend herself. “I earned my brown belt,” she added. “That was the fun part of being deployed.”
In 1978, the Women’s Army Corps was disbanded and integrated with the male units. Yetzbacher, deployed in Korea at the time, was a part of this historical moment.
After her deployment, she returned to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, where she concluded her military service. “I was going to spend 20 years enlisted, but I got injured in Korea and they wouldn’t let me stay as far as my injuries were concerned,” she said.
Finding her calling
Tholen started her career at the Air Force Academy. “The military wasn’t new to me — my dad was in the Navy when I was very young,” she said. A lot of her training focused on the physical aspect. “We ran every day. We had drills and calisthenics,” she noted. Tholen recalled also carrying about 20 college credit hours every year she was at the academy.
The academy is broken up into squadrons, with approximately 90 people per squadron. “There were only four girls in my squadron,” she said. “I felt like I had a whole family of brothers, which was kind of nice because I only had sisters back home.”
The rigorous curriculum also included mandatory engineering classes. “I was a biochemistry major because I was interested in a medical career,” she said.
Initially, Tholen thought she may be a pilot or astronaut. “I was kind of leaving my options open,” she said. After taking a pilot flight class, she realized it wasn’t for her. “It was fine, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do every day.”
