Memorial Garden for women veterans

One woman who planted the idea of a memorial garden saw it come to life this morning at the Gulf Coast Veteran’s Health Care System Campus.
Over a dozen family, friends, and members of the VA gathered alongside Mary Jane Nelson for a ribbon cutting ceremony for the memorial garden of forget-me-nots. Nelson felt like women veterans sometime feel overlooked and invisible to the general public compared to male veterans.
Nelson came up with the idea of a garden to provide a space where people can honor the women veterans both past and present. “We have women in the hospital, have served, and when, well some of them went a few years ago, went over to the desert, so it’s just a reminder.”
The garden is a joint effort between the VA and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary Post 5699 in Ocean Springs.
Nelson is a resident at the Armed Forces Retirement Home and is a former member of the Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service.