Aurora overcame the weather Thursday to celebrate the contributions of women veterans during the city’s annual Veterans Day program.
“They are the thread that keeps the very fabric of our society together,” said Mayor Richard Irvin. “Today we celebrate women veterans, whose stories are sometimes not fully shared.”
Originally tapped to lead the annual Veterans Day parade through downtown as grand marshals, this week’s event focused on 14 women from Aurora who served in the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. Weather forced cancellation of the parade, but the program continued inside at City Hall.
The women honored specifically and their ranks while in the service were: Stephanie Kifowit, E-4 corporal, Marines; Betty Hart, staff sergeant, Air Force; Erika Cephus, E-3, Air Force; Janene Marshall, colonel, Army; Gloria Brenski, E-5, Army; Gwendalyn Mance, E-4, Army; Darnetta Jones, 1st lieutenant, Army; Melanie Campos, E-4, Army; Ariadne Diaz, E-4, Navy; Mary Plata, Petty Officer 2, Navy; Eneke Smith, E-3, Navy; Yvonne Thompson, E-4, Navy; and Laura Kolanowski, E-6, Navy.
The city also honored Cecilia Lopez Levya, the mother of Sara Medina, a Marine corporal from Aurora who was killed in 2015 while on duty in Nepal.
Clayton Muhammad, Aurora’s chief communications and equity officer, pointed out that this year is the 35th anniversary of the bill signed in Washington, D.C., creating the national women’s veterans memorial.
He said the women honored this week in Aurora had more than 80 years of service combined.
“They represent our community strong,” he said.
They received a certificate and a red rose, and a chance to step to the podium and thank family and mentors who inspired them, and helped them through their service.
Betty Hart, an Air Force veteran who works for the city, said whenever her husband’s armed forces service is recognized, he always makes sure his wife is recognized too.
“Create space for us women veterans,” Hart said.
One veteran honored was state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, who also spent more than nine years as an Aurora City Council member from the 3rd Ward. A Marine Corps veteran, she said she is one of only 15 veterans in the House and Senate in Springfield, and the only female Marine there.
She said despite the partisan political nature of the General Assemby, “the one thing that is not partisan” is recognizing veterans.
“We come together as a state when it comes to supporting veterans,” she said.
To that end, she said the General Assembly recently supported a resolution calling for the federal government to allow veterans of the Korean War to be eligible for Congressional medals, as are awarded to heroes of all the other wars.
In the Korean War, the U.S. military participated to support the United Nations, so the war was never officially declared, and is ofter referred to as “the forgotten war.”
Kifowit said the General Assembly also recently supported recognizing Route 20, which runs across the country, coast to coast, as the Medal of Honor Highway.
While the focus was on women veterans, Aurora’s Veterans Day program always honors all veterans, from all five branches of the service. At one point, the official songs of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Marines were played, and veterans of each branch stood for their song.
Aurora’s veterans organizations – such as Amvets, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Marine Corps League – also rose during the event in Aurora Thursday to honor those veterans in their ranks who died during the past year.
