By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator
Three women boarded the Seneca County Honor Bus as strangers on Oct. 25. Sandra Conley, Norma Olvera and Anna Ocreta were bound for Washington, D.C., where they were treated, along with several other military veterans, to a complimentary, two-night trip to see the memorials and sights as a thank you for their service. By the time the bus returned to Tiffin on Oct. 27, the strangers had become friends.
The three, who were the only female veterans on the trip, bonded over their shared experience of being women in the military. Yet, their shared experiences were very different, and their stories express the historical struggles of females in the military.
“We’re all different generations,” Ocreta said.
Conley, of Fostoria, entered the military in 1968, where she served in Japan. She was in the Air Force and the Air National Guard and was one of the first women to work in the relatively new era of computers. She said her early experience was “not good.”
“I wasn’t treated well because I was a woman, especially since I was working in a new field,” she said.
Her early years inspired her to be a voice for women in the military, and she helped open doors and break down walls.
“I’ve been working for women since 1973,” she said.
Olvera, of Tiffin, joined the Air Force in 1979. There were still walls to scale, but, thanks to women like Conley, those walls were a little shorter. Olvera worked in communication system operations on airplanes, so she, in turn, chiseled the walls down even more.
“I was one of the first females to be airborne,” she said. “We paved the way by the work we did.”
Ocreta joined the Army in 1998 and was stationed as an MP in a remote mountaintop post of Hawaii. Her experience, while not perfect, was far different than Conley’s.
“By the time I went, my job had been integrated for a while,” she said.
The support she received from men, she said, was “50/50 because where I was stationed was all dudes. It just depended on the day.”
The Honor Bus trip gave the three women the chance to bond over their shared and unique experiences and create memories together in Washington, D.C. When they walked off the Honor Bus at the Seneca County Fairgrounds on Oct. 27, one more common memory was formed as they were greeted by a large, cheering crowd of people who welcomed them home and thanked them for their service.
The three women who had not met before Honor Bus brought them together, said their goodbyes amidst laughter and hugs.
“I think the trip was great. I think everything about it was wonderful,” Olvera said.
Honor Bus gave Ocreta her very first visit to the nation’s capital, a weekend of being honored, and two new friends. For that, she is very grateful.
“I would do it again, right now,” she said.