Female paratrooper takes military lessons to the real world

Mary Johnson has flown helicopters and airplanes, jumped out of planes as a paratrooper and stood toe-to-toe with men who didn't believe she belonged in the military, let alone a combat unit.

She was part of the sixth class of women to graduate from West Point Military Academy, was the first woman in the USMA Color Guard to carry the American flag and later served two tours of duty in Iraq.

Yet the 21-year, decorated U.S. Army veteran faces one of her toughest challenges on Saturday as this year's keynote speaker during the Veterans Day commemoration ceremony at the Kent County Veterans Memorial Park.

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The Bronze Star recipient not only wants her message to convey how proud she is of her fellow veterans, she also wants to make sure people know the struggles women in the military have had to overcome.

"It’s a time to thank them for their service, especially many who came home to different things than what I was fortunate to come home to," Johnson said. "Those times were different. Now I think there is more of an appreciation for the military, whether you are a man or a woman."

Johnson believes the things all veterans have fought for and endured are still values held by today's service and military members, and that even though the world has changed, the core values of the military have not. 

"The things that united them are the same things that unite today's service members," she said. "I think the fact that they asked me to speak is amazing because most of those guys didn’t serve with women. The fact that they think I’m a credible speaker is an honor."

Johnson was chosen to be the speaker at the annual Kent County veterans event not only because of her service – she retired from the U.S. Army in 2007 after 21 years – but also because of her service to veterans in her community.

A year after retiring from the Army, Johnson transitioned into the business world as owner/operator of the Chick-fil-A in the Dover Mall. In 2011, she built her current store in front of Lowe’s in North Dover and has now been a part of the community for 11 years.

She's interested in hiring veterans and seeing people succeed that otherwise may not have had an opportunity.

"That’s what I like about Chick-fil-A," Johnson said. "We provide opportunities for people that may not know what they want to do and I’m proud of that."

Joe Startt Jr., president of the Kent County Chapter 850 Vietnam Veterans of America, said the chapter is honored to have Johnson as its speaker because of her military accolades. But he's most interested in Kent County getting to know her for what she brings to the community.

"We want people to know women veterans in Kent County and Mary is a true veteran and hero," Startt said. "It's wonderful to honor someone who is a role model for veterans and the communities they serve."

Women in the military

While Johnson flew helicopters and rotary wing aircraft, she was stationed at Fort Bragg and focused on being a paratrooper there.

The unit she was with at the time took over the Pathfinder Mission – an elite force making up less than 1 percent of the total Army – and she was the first woman to take part. The primary mission of the unit is to infiltrate areas and set up parachute drop zones and helicopter landing zones for Airborne and Air Assault missions. 

That changed her focus from flying to jumping in with the infantry.

"They needed an aviator that knew how to set up an Army airfield," she said. "I wasn’t crazy about that job because I wanted to be flying, but as it turned out, it was the best job I ever had in my 21 years of service."

It also was when she encountered problems with her male counterparts who didn't think she or any other women belonged in the unit. Oftentimes, she was the only female in the drop zone.

Johnson remembers the time she felt a male soldier grab a piece of her hair sticking out from the back of her helmet and pulled her backward and started yelling at her.

She said he was really upset that she was there as a woman and said he didn’t want any women in the drop zone.

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Johnson's job as ATC in the drop zone was to make sure the parachutes were cleared so they didn't get pulled up into the rotor blade system. She said the soldiers didn't clear their own chutes on missions.

"My battalion commander set him straight," she said. "It was the dichotomy at the same time of two people who grew up in the same times, they were both peers and one supported me and one didn’t. This guy didn’t know me, he just knew I was a girl and didn’t want me there because of that."

That was both a lowlight and a highlight of her military career. She said it was life-changing because she realized that there are always going to be people that don’t like you for whatever reason and you can’t change that. 

"You just do the best you can and drive on," she said.

Johnson concluded her military career as a member of the National Guard in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was stationed in Baghdad as postmaster her last year.

Women have a larger presence in the U.S. military today than ever before – more than 200,000 women currently serve in the active-duty military. And because of that, stories like Johnson's are more commonplace. 

Delaware National Guard Col. Angela Showell enlisted in 1983 and was commissioned in 1988. In her more than three decades in the military, she has seen her share of sexism and discrimination in the ranks. 

When she enlisted, Showell saw different people from different backgrounds who were "curious" about what women could bring to the table. She said the equalizer was the Army's standards, which everybody had to maintain.

"I've been tested and challenged by individuals, but you look past that because there is a mission to accomplish," said Showell, who lives in Middletown and works out of the Delaware National Guard Joint Force Headquarters in New Castle. "As a service, I believe the Army as a whole is very welcoming to women."

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For Kate Gleeson, a retired U.S. Army captain now living in Felton, the military she experienced was accepting of women most of the time. She said once she was accepted, there were no problems with men thinking women didn't belong.

When the paratrooper deployed to Mosul, Iraq, in 2004, she was one of only three women out of 750 personnel at the Forward Operating Base. She said after two weeks there, she had no problems.

"The first two weeks were really uncomfortable because when you smiled, they thought it meant something more than it was," she said. "I learned to walk with my head down, but later I had my own little posse that had my back."

Gleeson said it was a matter of being accepted and proving yourself. She said that once she did that, any problems she experienced before went away.

"Overall, my experience was great," she said. "When you have good people surrounding you and training you to be a leader, it doesn't matter what sex you are."

Donyale Hall of Dover spent the better part of her four-year (1990-94) military career at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina. She painted a picture of ongoing discriminatory practices taking place during her tenure in the Air Force.

As a part of the avionics troop, Hall said there were very few women in her specialty. She said out of 400, there were only three women.

"It was not a friendly place to be and my stay was miserable," she said. "There were outward discriminatory practices going on there. I became a champion of women causes because of that. I didn't benefit, but women who came behind me did."

Despite, or maybe because of her experience in the military, Hall is excited to see a woman who has served be recognized and have an opportunity to talk about her service.

"I'm encouraged greatly that we are recognizing sacrifices women have made for our country," she said. "Sacrifices we as women make are different than our male counterparts."

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.

If You Go

What: Kent County Chapter 850 Vietnam Veterans of America Veterans Day ceremony

When: 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Kent County Veterans Memorial Park, South Little Creek Road, Dover

Keynote Speaker: Lt. Col. (ret.) Marybel H. "Mary" Johnson