Our Mission
To insure Kentucky’s women veterans have equitable access to federal and state veterans’ services and benefits.
Our Goals
1. Perform outreach to improve women veterans' awareness of eligibility for federal and state veterans' services and benefits.
2. Assess the needs of women veterans with respect to improve the Women Veterans Program.
3. Make recommendations to the Commissioner to improve benefits and services.
4. Review programs, research projects, and other initiatives designed to address or meet the needs of Kentucky's women veterans;
5. Incorporate women veterans' issues in the Department's strategic planning; and
Participate in National forums and committees for women veterans.
The Military Women's Memorial
Do you have a family member or friend who is a woman veteran? She deserves to take her rightful place in history. Without her story, our nation’s history is incomplete. Register her service for free at womensmemorial.org. #HerMemorial #HERstory @MilitaryWomensMemorial.
Veteran Spotlight: Patty Berg (1918-2006)
Patty Berg, a founder and the first president of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, won 15 major titles and set a record that still stands for the most major wins by a female golfer. She was also a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve during World War II.
Berg was born in Minneapolis on Feb. 13, 1918. Her father, Herman Berg Sr., was a grain merchant and member of the Chicago Board of Trade and Minneapolis Board of Trade. Both he and Berg's mother, Theresa Berg, supported their daughter’s athletic aspirations.
During her teen years, Berg played quarterback on the 50th Street Tigers football team in Minneapolis. She was the only girl on a team that included Bud Wilkinson, who went on to become a football coach for the University of Oklahoma.
Also during her teen years, she played amateur golf and then professional golf. In 1934 she began her amateur golf career and won the Minneapolis City Championship and by 1938 was the Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year – the first of three times she was awarded that honor.
To learn more about Patty Berg click here.
The Military Women’s Memorial (MWM) is the only major national memorial honoring all servicewomen – past, present and future. The MWM honors more than 3 million women who served and continue to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces since the American Revolution.
Women’s military service should be no less recognized than men’s but historically the focus of history and preservation has been on men.
Why it’s Important to Register?
EVERY STORY is important, EVERY STORY deserves to be told. Yet we have lost most of our WWI women veterans and our WWII women are fast coming to their final chapter. What history we have not recorded with be lost with them. We absolutely CANNOT let another generation go by without ensuring that our collective contributions are captured and remembered.
There is no cost to register! You can register any woman you know who is in or has served in the military. Let’s keep “HER-Story alive!
What is a Women Veteran Coordinator?The Women Veterans Coordinator maintains a database and email list of women veterans in Kentucky. This database includes only those women veterans who have volunteered their information to KDVA. The information in this database is strictly confidential. The database is used to distribute information of interest to women veterans, including resources and coming events. Our goal is to create a strong network of women veterans in Kentucky and to reach as many as possible.
History of the Women Veterans Program
The 2005 General Assembly authorized the Kentucky Women Veterans Program to address the unique need of women who have honorably served. In FY21, there are over 27,000 women veterans who reside in Kentucky. The mission of the program is to insure that Kentucky's women veterans have equitable access to federal and state veterans' services and benefits. The program provides information, advocacy, outreach and support to women veterans and their families. The goal is to assure that women veterans receive benefits and services parallel to their male counterparts and to discourage discrimination in the attempt to assure women are treated with resepct, dignity and understood by veteran service providers.