Three VFW Posts in Georgia were named for women who made an impact in both the military and the combat veterans’ organization.
VFW Department of Georgia State Quartermaster Jeff Carroll, who was an All-American State Commander in 2019 through 2020, said he believes that Posts should be named after anyone who earns it.
1st Lt. Sharon Lane was the only U.S. servicewoman killed in action during the Vietnam War. VFW Post 12190 in Evans, Georgia, is named for her. Photo courtesy of the Women in Military Service for America Memorial.“I think women play a key role in our military,” Carroll said, “And it is absolutely important to recognize that.”
Here are the Georgia VFW Posts and the women for whom they are named after.
MOINA MICHAEL – POST 665
Known as “The Poppy Lady,” Moina Michael is known for being the creator of using poppies as a symbol of remembrance for military members who served in the “Great War.”
Michael got the idea to symbolize the poppy after reading “In Flanders Field,” a poem by John McCrae. ”The Poppy Lady” also was visiting Europe when the war broke out in 1914. After the war, she wrote a poem called “We Shall Keep Faith.”
Moina Michael VFW Post 665 is the namesake of Michael. Carroll said the Post is well known by the Army community for being just outside of Fort Benning.
HELEN DENTON – VFW POST 3650
Helen Denton served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II in London. She is known for typing the battle plans of the D-Day invasion while serving under the command of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Denton also is a former All-American Commander of VFW Post 3650 in Riverdale, Georgia. At the 2009 VFW National Convention, then-VFW Commander-in-Chief Glen Gardner awarded the Gold Medal of Merit to Denton.
“She has always answered the call of duty and leadership, holding the title of VFW Post Commander several times, and in recent years, breathing a new life into VFW Post 3650 in Riverdale, Georgia,” said Gardner of Denton at the 110th VFW Convention in Phoenix.
Helen Denton VFW Post 3650, Denton’s former Post, is the namesake of the WWII veteran.
“Since a lot of the members there still remember her, they want to honor her, not only by naming the Post for, her but in what they do in the community,” Carroll said.
SHARON LANE – VFW POST 12190
1st Lt. Sharon Lane was the only U.S. servicewoman killed in action in the Vietnam War. Lane was killed on June 8, 1969, while attending to patients during an enemy rocket attack at the 312th Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, Vietnam.
Lane posthumously earned the Bronze Star Medal for her actions on the day of her death. She also received the Purple Heart Medal.
1st Lt. Sharon A. Lane Memorial VFW Post 12190 in Evans, Georgia, is the namesake of Lane. Carroll said the Post is one of the newest and fastest-growing Posts in the country.