What was it like to serve during the Vietnam War as a Woman? Check out Diane Sherwood’s experience of serving in the Air Force during Vietnam. As one of the first women to be a jet engine mechanic she found a supportive group. Unlike many stories you hear of harassment and overcoming difficulties, Diane had a great military experience.
This episode was made possible by my Patreon supporters! Sign up in the month of July and August to get a free copy of Brave Women Strong Faith!
Diane Sherwood served in the Air Force and she is a Vietnam Era veteran. She was a Jet Engine Mechanic on F-111 fighter jets. She was stationed at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho. She loved the west so much that she moved to Boise, 50 miles from the base, when she got out and lived in Boise for many years. After being in Idaho for 20 years, my daughter & she moved back to Minnesota where she was born. She currently works as a waitress so I have flexible time to work on my non-profit organization. She started the Remember Rally after 9/11 and we do events to honor military and first responders. Our current project and goal is to build a Veterans Memorial in her hometown of Luverne, MN.
Diane decided to join the military because it sounded interesting. When she joined there were not a lot of options open to women, but while at bootcamp she was given the option to switch from being a dental assistant to a mechanic. It sounded like fun so she did it.
She loved being a mechanic even being the only female in her shop she did not face challenges. She even decided she wanted to work on the flight line and the base worked to figure out how a woman could work on the flight line since it had never been done before. She worked on F-111 jets and was responsible for the engine. On the flight line she would run the pre-flight safety check and get the engine started. She absolutely loved everything about her job.
She left the military after her first enlistment, ready to try something new. She didn’t get involved in the veteran community until September 11th happened. It lit something inside of her that she wanted to help those who sacrificed so much during and after the events of September 11th. She is continuing to work to build a memorial in her hometown of Luverne, MN.
Connect with Diane:
Related Episodes:
A Female Vietnam Veteran – Episode 5
Climbing the Ranks to Brigadier General – Episode 65
Women Who Gave the Ultimate Sacrifice – Episode 75'
Read the full transcript here.
Do you love hearing the stories of military women? Support Women of the Military Podcast by becoming a Patreon member! For as little as $1/month you can help support the podcast! Sign up here.
Affiliate Support:
Are you trying to decide what you are going to do as a parent for the upcoming school year? I'm diving into homeschooling, but I'm getting support. Check out the Clever Kid Curriculum here.
Amanda Huffman 00:00
Welcome to Episode 84 of the women on the military podcast this week. My guest is Diane Sherwood. She served in the Air Force during Vietnam and she was a jet engine mechanic on F 111 fighter jets. And she ended up being stationed in Idaho and loved it so much. She stayed in Idaho after she got out of the Air Force. She lived there for 20 years and then she and her daughter moved back to Minnesota which she was born. She currently works as a waitress and she also has a nonprofit organization called remember rally that she started after 911. And they do events to honor military and first responders and their big project that they're working on right now is to build a Veterans Memorial in her hometown of Laverne, Minnesota. So it's another great episode and I'm sure you're gonna get started. You're listening to the women of the military podcast where we share the stories is a female servicemembers and how the military touch their lives. I'm your host, military veteran military spouse and mom, Amanda Huffman. My goal is to find the heart of the story and uncover issues women face while serving in the military. If you want to be encouraged by the stories of military women, and be inspired to change the world, keep tuned for this latest episode of women of the military. Welcome to the show, Diane. I'm excited to hear your story.
Diane Sherwood 01:32
Thank you very much for talking with me.
Amanda Huffman 01:35
Let's dive in. I want to go way back to why did you decide to join the military?
Diane Sherwood 01:41
Well, it wasn't something that I actually you know talked about or thought about at all like in high school. After I finished high school, I went to vo tech school for fashion merchandising, and then I worked a year and then literally is almost like an instant thing. For some reason. I decided to joined the Air Force. And at the time, the only possibility that was available was to be like a dental assistant. There wasn't many openings for jobs in the Air Force. So I signed up and it wasn't till I got down to basic training that I found out about the opportunity to be a jet engine mechanic.
Amanda Huffman 02:17
That's really cool. So when you enlisted, you thought you're going to be a dental assistant?
Diane Sherwood 02:22
Yeah, you know, they have most of the women wear it because this is back in the 70s. Most women were in either clerical or medical fields. And when we were down at basic training, there was a gentleman that actually came into the women's dorm one day and says, okay, he says, who would like to be either a jet engine mechanic or a helicopter mechanic, and someone who's just kind of looked at each other. We raised her hand, didn't have a clue what we were getting into. And it took off from there and I absolutely loved it. So for a while I was the only female on our base that did this work.
Amanda Huffman 02:57
Yeah. So you were one of the first to be jet engine mechanic who was a female?
Diane Sherwood 03:02
Yes, especially at our base, otherwise to I don't know nationwide how many there were because this is something that we were they were really introducing to get women into avionics and to the mechanic field. And a friend of mine shows helicopter and I was the jet engine mechanic. And so of course, we had to go through special training. So after our basic training in Texas, then I was up in Illinois, and did my training for the jet engine mechanic work. And then I got stationed in Idaho.
Amanda Huffman 03:30
So what was it like to be a woman and a career field that before had been all mills and you said at one time you were the only woman working in that job?
Diane Sherwood 03:40
I wasn't quite sure what to think I grew up on a farm so I was used to being around men, but of course into something like this. When you're in the Air Force when you're in the military, it's totally different. They were absolutely wonderful. I could remember when I first would walk into like where we would go each was they called the chow hall. A lot of eyes are on Because I was the only female in green fatigue. But the gentleman there that I worked with were wonderful things so much as in how you present yourself and your attitude. I worked in a hangar with 60 guys, and I was the only female but I always made sure that I did my own work and I carry my toolbox and I didn't expect to be treated differently. And I had respect from the guys literally from the very beginning.
Amanda Huffman 04:26
That's such an encouraging story to hear. Because sometimes I hear stories where they aren't given the respect and they have to work really hard to earn it. So it's great that you are given. So you got to go to a place where they were able to give you that respect and you were able to do your job.
Diane Sherwood 04:43
Yes, like I said, had just wonderful guys I worked with and so talented, and you know, they were very willing and able to you know, to help teach me anything that I needed to know. And of course, I always you know, try to stand up for myself and try to learn everything too. And we I started in what was called In shops, I worked, you know, inside a hangar. And after the first year, I want it to go out to flight line. And again, of course, they never had a female do that. So we had to go all the way up to the shop supervisor, and then even the commander of the base to get that approval. And so I got to go work on the flightline, which I really enjoyed. Again, just a totally new experience.
Amanda Huffman 05:24
That's so cool. And to be doing that as like one of the first women to do that, and lead the way and I mean, it's just crazy to think how much change has happened since the 70s today, and it all started with the work that you were doing. So that's really cool.
Diane Sherwood 05:43
Thank you, you know, and so many women now they do it every kind of field and you see the fighter pilots and you know, like it's a basically in every field imaginable and so many wonderful, talented women that are out in the country right now doing wonderful work.
Amanda Huffman 06:00
Yeah, that's really cool. So did you stay at Boise your whole time or Mountain Home?
Diane Sherwood 06:08
Yes, I Yes, I did. I did have a TDY, which is, you know, a short term. And that was just a couple weeks up in Alaska, we had to go up there and help work for a while. That was in January, we were up at fair bang. And there's like 40, below zero and we lay on to it is very different, because like sudden January, it's dark, almost. So if you didn't happen to be out during the middle of that afternoon for the short period of time, it was dark the whole time. So I did go up to Alaska for a couple weeks.
Amanda Huffman 06:39
So what was that experience? Like it was cold, but were you able to adapt to the new environment and get the work done for the mission that you guys were working on?
Diane Sherwood 06:49
Definitely. And you know, there's only few of us from our shop that were up there. So we had to cover 24 hours shift. And so I would work the day and then two or three guys would come in for Like swing shift or to work to the night shift, I did get to see like the Northern Lights, there was only one day that we got to actually go off base to see anything because otherwise it was basically work related. But again, just a wonderful experience very different, you know, when we were up there, our plans weren't used to that kind of cold. And so like we even have some of the lines and drain lines that were freezing. So you know, I would have to go out there, you know, in the middle of the flight line, and go onto the plane and drain the lines, you know, and rewire them up because that is something our plane just wasn't used to. So again, I was very fortunate that we had some very experienced guys to help again, kind of guide me and say, Okay, we have to troubleshoot things that we weren't used to experiencing when we were in Idaho.
Amanda Huffman 07:51
So what was it like to be a woman you can go all the way back to boot camp or just your time in the military during the Vietnam era.
Diane Sherwood 08:00
Again, I think sometimes we appreciate it more after we've left. You know, I understood about the Vietnam War, I did not serve in theater. When we were there at Idaho, there were some guys that were coming back either from Vietnam, or even Thailand that had been stationed there. So we would hear about it, you know, to understand or understood the gravity and the depth to that. But again, I think just as a human, and as a veteran, I think that it even hits me more now. You know, I truly understand, you know, what a horrible war it was and how they were treated our soldiers when they came back,
Amanda Huffman 08:40
right, so you feel like you're a little bit protective because you are on the base and you didn't experience did you experience any type of like negative interactions with civilians ever?
Diane Sherwood 08:51
Not at all. And again, I just, I'm not sure if it was happened from the base that we were at. You know, it wasn't the largest base I made. Because it was a smaller base, or maybe it just happened, you know, the state that we were in? I'm not sure what it is, but everyone was very respectful there. And no, I personally didn't. And I don't think I even observed anyone that was treated badly or negative comments or anything like that from the Vietnam War where I was stationed.
Amanda Huffman 09:21
That's good. It sounds like you had the right people to work with and the right community around you that made your experience in the military really, really good.
Diane Sherwood 09:32
It was like a very positive and when I was working on flightline, I worked grave shift. I work with a very colorful gentleman, so they can make me laugh at two in the morning. But, again, so talented. Many of them have been there for years. So boy, they knew what they were doing as far as that field of jet engine mechanics. Oh, it was truly an honor to get to work with those guys.
Amanda Huffman 09:59
So when a little bit learn a little bit more about what you did as a jet engine mechanic. So like, what exactly does that mean? And you were working on the F 111 fighter jet. So like, were you guys doing everything to keep the jet in the air from like, I guess essentially like oil change to like, big maintenance projects? or What was your job? Exactly?
Diane Sherwood 10:23
Yes, we do anything that for the plan as far as the engine type of thing, you know, there are special people who did do the bomb work and there's aviation and avionics, I'm sorry, and different things like that. Ours was the jet engine. So what was called the build up and tear down, you would either you know, put a different engine in or tear it down or fix it. And then there's always somebody from quality control that after you did all of your work on the engine, they would come through and almost do like an audit type of thing on it and they would check to make sure that you know, everything was done correctly. And obviously, these were multi million dollar planes and the safety of the pilot was, you know, at risk there so there was always quality control that would come through and check everyone's work. And then when I worked out in the flightline, then I actually got to go up into the cockpit and do what's called a run up on them. So I got to start up the plane, you know, I didn't actually fly we didn't fly the plane, it was grounded. But I got to do that. So that was, again another wonderful experience to to be able to you know, get up there and sit in the cockpit and started up and take it through. It's test test run. Yeah, that sounds really
Amanda Huffman 11:34
Cool. That sounds likeso much fun. That's your job.
Diane Sherwood 11:39
It was the picture that night because I was working graveyard shift you had taken into afterburner so that you know, you can see that light shooting out the back of the engine. It was just absolutely beautiful. So quite the experience to do something like that. I truly enjoyed that.
Amanda Huffman 11:54
So it sounds like overall, you had a good experience in the military.Did you face any struggles while you were serving in the military?
Diane Sherwood 12:02
You know, I have to be very honest, I did not, you know, I know that maybe some women have or maybe even just other, you know, soldiers have I did not have anything I didn't have anything as far as being a female or being a mechanic. We had a wonderful base that we were on Mountain Home was wonderful and I know that has grown some since I was even there. But again, I think it was like a you know, smaller type of thing was more home type feeling and people were very wonderful. And then the town of Mountain Home was like 10 miles from the base. And so we would go into town you know, to go out to eat or drink or whatever. And again, a very supportive communities so I can honestly say I really did not have any negative experiences.
Amanda Huffman 12:51
That's really great to hear. Did you have any favorite memories? I know we talked about a few of the cool things that you got to do but is there any like favorite memory that sticks out that we haven't touched on.
Diane Sherwood 13:03
I think just being able to do things with all the people that you worked with, and have to be with just with the people like in the hangar worked with all the women I met, you know, in the dorm, and other people that because you got to meet from other fields too, because Martin on was a smaller situation. And just the things that like I said, to go out and do things, or to go on vacations. The first time I really got to get a feel of what Idaho was like, if some of the guys asked me if I want to go deer hunting with them. And again, I thought, oh my goodness, is this something I want to do? An fi such Yo, sure. Let's go and we were going to go on weekend. And we were driving down this road, we came around this band, and all of a sudden I could see these mountains and trees and the rivers and that's when I absolutely fell in love with Idaho. All the West is beautiful, but I think that really kind of gave me the bug to you know want to travel more and squat and do the same With the people that I met there,
Amanda Huffman 14:02
Yeah, I think the people in the military and with anything, even with the podcast, the people that I've met and the experiences that I've got to do because of being in the military and traveling and seeing different things, that's, that's the part that I remember the most. And so that doesn't surprise me that really resonated with me when you're talking about like, doing stuff with the people that you worked with. And I was like, oh, that brings me back to when I was a second lieutenant. And we were, you know, it's the first time I was really out on my own and seeing the world. So
Diane Sherwood 14:39
And then, you know, I still keep in touch with some of them. I still have some friends that some live in Idaho, some have, you know, I'm in different states and things like that, but we still keep in touch with each other either with emails or they'll call occasionally, or Facebook or whatever, but I still keep in touch with some of those people from the 70s. We can It is quite remarkable. Yeah, with thinking about how much the technology has changed in the past, just in the past 10 years and thinking like between the 70s. And now, it's amazing that you still have those connections. Yes. And again, wonderful people, you know, they, sometimes he will say, oh, if it's a true friend, you don't have to see them for years. But all of a sudden, you need to saw each other talk to each other, it would be like no time has passed. And I think that's what some of these military friends it's the same thing. Even if we don't get to see each other, you know, if we either visit or email or whatever. It's like, no time has passed. And if we saw each other right now, I think we could just, you know, pick up the conversation.
Amanda Huffman 15:43
Yeah. And it's kind of cool. One of the things that I've had experiences in this past years, I've got more involved in the veteran spaces, even if we're not, we don't know each other, but we both are veterans. It's still like you can just talk about forever and it's really cool.
Diane Sherwood 16:03
Yeah, kind of a special bond or just a special type of people, you know, you watch each other's back. And like, there's just some really strong friendships and great people.
Amanda Huffman 16:15
So why did you decide to leave? It sounds like you love being in the military. Why did you decide to leave the military behind?
Diane Sherwood 16:23
I think after one term, it was just, you know, to the point, my life is like, well, I want to try new things and do new things. And some people asked, you know, well, why didn't I do you know, mechanic work like at an airport, you know, for civilian? Again, I would have had gone back to school for a couple years to get my ANP license. And I think I just decided, you know, I want to do some other things. Great experience that again, I think I would have had to probably move to a very large city at that time, you know, in the 70s. To do mechanic work. So if you work for airport, it might have been like Los Angeles or Denver or whatever and I kind of wanted the smaller community type of situation.
Amanda Huffman 17:04
So what did you end up doing when you left the military?
Diane Sherwood 17:07
I've done so many different kinds of jobs. I've done construction, I've done secretarial work to fundraising. I've had quite a variety. Many times I've worked two or three jobs at a time. So again, just a variety of different kinds of jobs.
Amanda Huffman 17:24
And then after you left the military, you didn't really get involved in the veteran community or did you
Diane Sherwood 17:32
not for a while. Again, you know, you get busy working and buying a house and you know, having a child and all those different things. And then but then after 911 is when things kind of picked up again, and after that is when I started my nonprofit organization, remember rally,
Amanda Huffman 17:50
What was it about 9/11 that kinda like drew you, Wast it the event of 9/11 and the timing being right or what was it that drew you back into The veteran community so that you started your nonprofit?
Diane Sherwood 18:04
You know, I think so many people were touched by that day. And I can remember trying within days afterwards, I knew that people were going to be getting sick from all the chemicals and toxins and when these buildings were burning when the Twin Towers were burning, and not that they would already know that, but I tried to make some contact, you know, and call different government offices in New York and some fire stations are trying to get hospital try to get through to them and couldn't really get through because they were so busy. And I was, you know, sitting here in Minnesota, so I thought, well, how can we help or what can we do? And so I started doing research on chemicals and toxins in military and first responders. But then we also decided to start doing some small fundraising situations. So we had a motorcycle event here in luverne, Minnesota, and then we gave the money to Mount Sinai in New York to help with a rescue workers. From there, I was just very fortunate. I made a few trips to New York. And I actually got to meet some of the rescue workers that were working down at Ground Zero. And we did a short documentary on the health issues from 911. And things just kind of took off from there.
Amanda Huffman 19:13
That's really cool. And I think, I think one of the things I've learned is that maybe I don't know. But for me, I feel that when I started giving back and getting involved in the veteran space that it really like, filled me up in a way that the military kind of filled me up before and I kind of was missing that and then to see that 911 happened, and it moves you and so then you took action. That's really, it's really awesome that you were able to get involved and to make some positive changes.
Diane Sherwood 19:45
Thank you. And don't you think that a lot of veterans, you know, and I think maybe, and I did not serve over like in Iraq or Afghanistan or Vietnam, so I think that's a whole different situation. But I think many times when veterans are done with their service, they still have this feeling or this desire to help others. And like I said, with a 911, that just kind of happened to be, you know, the timing or the situation for me. And many people after 911 did join the military. And so it just kind of went hand in hand. And so we've just done different events over the years. And one year we had Stacey Piersol. She was a military photographer, combat photographer, and we brought her here to Laverne. And she did the photos of our local veterans and she spoke at the school and then she spoke at a public event. So things like that, and that was wonderful. We I really good reception for that.
Amanda Huffman 20:42
Yeah, I think you're right. I think veterans after they've served, they still have this desire. And I think a lot of times we don't really realize what that is like, you can't really pinpoint it. But then when you find what you're supposed to be doing, it just kind of like I don't Like brightens the room is like kind of insane. It's just fills you up in a way that you didn't even know that you were missing.
Diane Sherwood 21:08
You know, something that clicks within us is something like we kind of know what's right. It's just like I hadn't planned in high school to join the Air Force. So I spent two years you don't go into school and working and all of a sudden, literally, it just kind of clicked one day. You know, even with a 911 situation. It's like, I'm not sure why God picked me to go and start working on this. But I was very fortunate that I got to go to New York. And the people of New York were absolutely wonderful and amazing, opened their arms to me. The first trip I made I actually stayed with one of the rescue workers and his family. They invited me to stay there. Never met them before my allies and they opened their home to me, and I stayed there for two or three nights. And again, we got to go Mark and I got to go down inside ground zero and you know, He showed me around and different things like that. And even when we did the documentary, you know, the film maker and the photographers everything, they just opened up and we're so willing to help. But
Amanda Huffman 22:12
yeah, that's really cool. So what made you start remember rally?
Diane Sherwood 22:19
Again, it was after 9/11. You know, that's when we decided because if we wanted to either do events or raise money or whatever, we felt that we needed to be a nonprofit organization.
Amanda Huffman 22:30
So what are you guys doing today?
Diane Sherwood 22:34
Our current project and was one that we're probably the most excited about is we want to build a large Veterans Memorial here in luverne, Minnesota. We want to have a full size replica of the Vietnam War monuments for 911 that list everybody who died on 911 monuments for Iraq, Afghanistan, you know, other conflicts and then also an education center.
Amanda Huffman 23:00
So why do you guys want to do that?
Diane Sherwood 23:02
Again, it's just kind of almost like a timing as right. You're not everybody can get to DC to see all the different monuments. And so with us being, you know, almost dead center in the United States, it's a great way for people traveling either east or west, says he'd come to something like this. I think it's important that we do on our people. You know, one time I was talking to someone about Agent Orange from Vietnam, she'd never even heard of the word Agent Orange. So we want to make sure that we aren't letting certain things in history labs that people don't know about it. on Education Center, of course, we'll have your displays and dioramas, but a lot of information. So for Vietnam, it would be the war itself, but Agent Orange, you know, and POW camp, things like that, that, you know, we don't want people to forget in history.
Amanda Huffman 23:55
Yeah. And that stuff is so important that we document that History because I think one of the things I hope that the podcasts can do is like bridge the gap between civilians and military. Because like when you were talking about they didn't know what Agent Orange I'm like, how like, I know what it is because, you know, my military connection and I think that if anything we can do to help bring civilians in to understand and learn not only the history, but what's going on today is so important.
Diane Sherwood 24:27
You know, what even was like 911 we I'm not sure how much is covered like in history classes, on the different wars, but even with 911 so we don't want people to start you know, forgetting about that. Something that unless you maybe live in New York, and there's more coverage. A lot of people here around the country do they know how sick a lot of these rescue workers are to this day. You know, a lot of there's hundreds, there's kind of an estimate about 2000. But there's many rescue workers who have already died from serving down at ground zero because of all the chemicals in the toxins.
Amanda Huffman 25:02
Yeah, that's something that I didn't know like, because like you said, it's not really publicized on the news. And so how do you know if you don't document it?
Diane Sherwood 25:12
Yes. Yeah, we think of the PTSD, which is another thing that Yeah, we'd definitely be covering in the education center, both for military and first responders. So maybe people think of the PTSD with the 911 but there are so many people sick, you know, when the towers fell on each tower, it was 110 storeys, so you can imagine they imploded, and all that dust and all those building materials and chemicals and and those workers breathe that in for weeks and months at a time. So there's a lot of cancer, there's just a lot of illnesses that are going along with this 911 and many have died. A lot of firefighters, you know, please, but they're seeing it more and more. I mean, sometimes there might even be multiple people in in a week or in a month that are done. For me sign 11. So that will only continue to increase.
Amanda Huffman 26:03
Yeah. Wow. That's, that's, that's the one of the I can't think of the word but you know, the ripple effects of that day it was more than just the people who died, but also the people who were there working cleanup and were exposed to all that stuff. And now, like 20 years later, they're dying. And that's, that's crazy. And it's really kind of sad and scary.
Diane Sherwood 26:28
So yeah, because we have to remember also that people from all 50 states came to New York to help in some form, with cleaning up down at ground zero. So there are people sick in all 50 states. And again, that may be something that doesn't get out. And then you think of all the police that were down there and the firefighters doing their work and the military that was brought in National Guard's or whatever, all those people were exposed. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. So we do have to make sure that there's a lot of things that We do want to cover in our education center. That's why we think this this Veterans Memorial is such an important project to be doing.
Amanda Huffman 27:10
Yeah. And I remember when we talked on the phone, were you talking about recording stories or trying to figure something out like that? Is that something that
Diane Sherwood 27:18
yes, in the education center, besides that portion where we'll be teaching people on different things within that classroom, meeting rooms or restaurant, a chapel, then we also want to have a recording studio. Because we find that a lot of people, especially with Vietnam, a lot of these people didn't necessarily talk about their service. But you know, maybe if they are coming to our Memorial, and whether it's the Vietnam wall or 911, or Iraq or Afghanistan, whatever, after they see that, if they are quite what they would like to share their story. We want to be able to offer a safe place for them to tell their story. And either if they want People can hear that that's something that we can show, you know, clips inside the Education Center, that's fine. Or if they want to perfectly confidential, you know, strictly for themselves or their family, then we will honor that. But again, this is a way for them to get this out and maybe help them in some way.
Amanda Huffman 28:18
Yeah, I know that there's a lot of healing in telling your story. And sometimes it's really hard to even even if you want to share it, to know how to share it, or even what words to say. So I think that's like a really powerful thing that I'm really excited about. I know that my uncle served in Vietnam. And when I did my deployment series, when I when I was still just blogging, I asked him if he would answer some questions. And at first he was very closed off to sharing his experience. And I could tell from his answers because of having deployed that he was having just a hard time opening up and so actually I respected that and told them thank you for the answers that you gave me, even if they weren't the best answers, but they were the truth of how he was feeling. And it took about three months, but three months later, he said, I reread my answers. They were horrible. And here's my new answers. And I learned so much about Vietnam and variance. And I'm hopeful that it was healing for him. I know that he just he's either gonna go on his honor, I think he's going on his Honor Flight next year, but and I feel hopeful that, you know, he's able to find closure, because he he was when he first told me it was all bad. And when he told me the second time, there was still the bad part of being deployed to Vietnam, but also some stories that I never expected to hear.
Diane Sherwood 29:52
That's it unless we were there. I think it's hard, if not impossible, to try to think that we understand or really know What they went through, even when I was interviewing the rescue workers from 911, I made sure that I told them ISIS, I will not even pretend to understand what you've been through. But again, I think it is a good debt, they can, you know, open up, you know, and express that and tell their story. So we're hoping that people will want to come into the recording studio.
Amanda Huffman 30:21
Yeah, it sounds like you have such a great project. How would people get in contact with you if they want to help support you in any way
Diane Sherwood 30:30
We have our website is remember rally.org and rally is ra Ll y. So they can go on there. There's information about it. There's also a button. I think nine minutes long, there is a military tribute video. And it's just, you know, different pictures from military and even some of 911. But it's very interesting to kind of watch the it goes very, very quickly and make sure you've got the music on and especially at the end and you'll understand why that's imminent. have music on but watch that video. And that really tugs at the heart too. And it's like, Okay, this is why we need to be doing a memorial like this.
Amanda Huffman 31:08
Yeah. And I will put the link to remember rally.org in the show notes. So if you type it in and you can't find it, you can always go back to the show notes, show notes and be able to find it there. And do you have anything else you want to add to the interview before I let you go?
Diane Sherwood 31:29
I just appreciate you letting us talk about the project. We just didn't think it is so important. You know, it's timely. There's so many things that respectful things that we want to do so many things that we want to teach people. We think it's great that people can come from anywhere in the country, even people from other countries I think will come and visit something like this. So anything that people can do to support us help spread the word, and anything like that would be greatly appreciated.
Amanda Huffman 31:56
That is awesome. And I do have one last question. Should I try and end every interview with this question? So what would you tell girls who are considering joining the military,
Diane Sherwood 32:08
I think being in the military is a wonderful experience. You know, even if people would go in for two years or four years or whatever, just going through, even if they went through basic training as part of, you know, a person starting to grow and expand and mature, I think something like basic training is great, or learning the skills or whatever. But going back to the females, I think it's wonderful. There's so many opportunities out there and so many bright kids, you know, and I don't know if we should be calling them kids, but so many bright people that you know, could be joining the military and what they gain from just the subject matter that they're going into whatever field they're going into, they learn from that but then just the people you meet the traveling that you do, the wonderful experience and I would just really recommend it.
Amanda Huffman 32:57
Thank you so much for being a guest today on the public. Cast. I really enjoyed hearing your story. And I'm so glad that you had such a positive experience in the military. So thank you.
Diane Sherwood 33:07
Thank you very much.
Amanda Huffman 33:10
Thank you for listening to this episode of women of the military. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of the amazing stories I have with women who have served in our military. Did you love the show? Don't forget to leave a review. Finally, if you are a woman who has served or is currently serving in the military, please email me at airman to mom@gmail.com so I can set you up to be on a future episode of women of the military.