MADISON, Wis. — Female veterans make up about 10% of the veteran population in Wisconsin, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. A new display in Madison is raising awareness about the challenges they’ve had to overcome and showcasing their contributions.
The “In Her Boots” exhibit fills the front window of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum. It’s made up of dozens of combat boots decorated by female veterans. Each boot tells its own story and highlights what each woman experienced while serving in the U.S. military.
For more than a year, women have been decorating these boots. The museum has collected at least 150 to rotate into the display.
Jodi Barnett is the women veterans coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs (WDVA). She is also a proud Navy veteran who led the “In Her Boots” project. She said she hopes it makes everyone who walks by the museum stop and think.
“I want them to look and understand that ‘In Her Boots,’ these are boots that we all wore,” she said. “Each boot is different but we each wore them as sisters.”
Barnett said the time she spent serving in the Navy included some of the most defining years of her life.
“I loved every minute of it,” she said. “I would tell anyone to do it.”
On many of the boots displayed, female veterans shared messages of strength and pride in their service to our country. But others shed light on the unique challenges women veterans have faced. One boot shared a message of surviving military sexual trauma. Another referenced LGBTQ veterans who served during the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on gay and lesbian service members.
Barnett said the goal is to bring awareness to female veterans in the state, who all too often fall under the radar, because of the much larger number of male veterans.
“Often when we think of veterans, we don’t think of women veterans,” she said. “I would like to be able to change that narrative. Obviously, that narrative is changing, but I would like to continue to change that narrative.”
Barnett said the exhibit is also meant to honor the commitment and sacrifice of women who’ve served. She said she hopes female veterans who’ve participated by decorating a boot have found some healing and camaraderie in the activity.
The “In Her Boots” exhibit will be on display at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum through the summer and could grow. The museum invites all female veterans to come decorate their own boot.