On Saturday, March 23, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) in partnership with the Women Veterans Initiative hosted the 2019 Women Veterans conference. Over 200 Veterans of all ages and branches were in attendance at the YMCA Maplewood Community Center to enjoy a day of wellness and camaraderie. The day included workshops, massages, henna tattoos and holistic healing sessions. The Klondike Kate’s sang the national anthem, a military melody and led the crowd in God Bless America. 

Keynote speaker Veteran Dajon Ferrell, delivered a motivational talk about transforming painful life experiences to taking action toward living your purpose.  Ferrell encouraged the Women Veterans in the audience, “Think about the most powerful version of yourself…Root down into that. She is powerful. She is kind. She is loved. She is wise.”

Speaker retired Brig. Gen. Carol Eggert – Senior Vice President of Military and Veteran Affairs at Comcast NBC Universal delivered a talk about resilience and the importance of self-care. “Before we can work on resilience we must work on our health and wellness.” Eggert shares some of her tips on how self-care can help grow resilience, “Studies have shown that practicing looking for positive experiences will change your brain chemistry… It builds positive emotion, develops gratitude, increases creativity and resilience.”

Minnesota is home to 28,000 Women Veterans. Every year the Women Veterans Initiative honors one extraordinary female Veteran annually who has honorably served in the United States Military, displays leadership, supports Women Veteran issues and contributes to her Minnesota community. The 2019 Women Veteran of the Year award was presented to retired Tech. Sgt. Ruth Perry.

Perry enlisted in the Army Air Corp Station at Fort George Wright in Spokane, Washington in December 1944.   When the Army Air Corp changed to the United States Air Force in 1948, she re-enlisted and gave 20 years of service with the Air Force.

Perry’s military career specialty was administration and recruiting. Within her years of service, Perry served during World War II, Korean War and the Vietnam War. Perry was stationed in many locations including: Germany, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Texas and Washington.

After retiring from the Air Force, Perry worked at the Social Security Office for 20 years. She was awarded the Good Samaritan Assisted Living - Citizen of the Year award from the Saint John’s Nursing home for volunteering her time for 20 consecutive years. In 1996, she received the Health Alliance Volunteer of the Year award.  In 2018, she was named the Grand Marshal for Albert Lea’s Third of July Parade.

Photos from the event are available on the MDVA Flickr page.