Lake Tahoe Veteran's Alliance honors local women who served on International Women's Day

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Lake Tahoe Veterans Alliance honored two area women for their service on Tuesday, both for their time in the armed services and in serving their community.

For the second year, the Alliance chose local female veterans to honor on International Women's Day, a day recognized globally every March 8. The day was created to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. It is also a focal point in the women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.

Lt. Carolyn Phillips and Specialist Kaela Horse Bearman.

Carolyn Phillips was one of the honorees, recognized during a lunchtime celebration in South Lake Tahoe. The Melrose, Massachusetts native has been a South Lake Tahoe resident since 2001.

The now 56-year-old joined the Army at the age of 22 due to a desire to attend the Defense Language Institute. After Army basic at Ft. McClellan, Alabama in 1986 (she was there July to September, the hottest months).

After basic, Carolyn spent a year at the Defense Language Institute (DLI) in Monterey, Calif.

"I was supposed to become a Russian interrogator and go to Arizona for interrogator training before deploying to Germany," said Carolyn. "Instead I decided to finish my college education and had my orders changed when I was accepted to the ROTC program at UMass, Amherst. While I was doing my undergrad I also served in Massachusetts National Guard."

She received her BA in Russian Language and got her "Butterbar" in 1990, then to North Carolina for Light Infantry Leadership training, then Ft. Ben Harrison for officers basic. After that, Carolyn served in Army Reserves in Pasadena, Calif.

She said highlights while in the service were passing the final and graduating DLI with professional proficiency in the language, and being a Cadet E5 during Desert Storm for a MASH unity assigned to an infantry battalion.

Serving in the Army did not come without challenges for Carolyn who served before the "Don't ask, Don't tell" sexual orientation policy was created by the Clinton Administration. Even though she excelled in Russian, scored at the top of her classes, and was a top athlete, she faced internal spying by those wanting to uncover her sexual orientation, and efforts to not accept her for who she is. She said she saw gay servicemen sent to Ft. Leavenworth for what was illegal at the time.

Today's acknowledgment of her service brought her full circle, and the event was very healing to Carolyn.

Carolyn is married to Dee, and they are the proud parents of Lily and Quinn, both South Tahoe High students. Having moved to Tahoe to escape the crazy dot-com world of the Bay Area, she has received her master's and is now a mental health clinician with El Dorado County.

Carolyn gives advice to women looking to join the military: Learn to stand up for yourself, and learn how to be equals with those who try to suppress your value.

Kaela Horse Bearman could not be at Tuesday's event at Lake Tahoe Ale Worx, but her cousin CJ Keith, the veteran's liaison with Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC), was there to accept her award.

Kaela is a member of the Washoe Tribe and a graduate of Douglas High and LTCC.

After graduating from high school in 2007 she wanted to further her education and saw military service as a way to get to college. She joined the Army in 2014 and was stationed at Ft. Still, Oklahoma.

Before being honorably discharged due to an injury in 2016, Kaela was in field artillery just as it was opening up for women, so very few females in the specialty. She said she faced challenges being a woman in artillery, but came out of it being very knowledgable in guns and ammunition.

After her injury, Kaela came back to the area and now lives in Markleeville. She attended LTCC where she graduated in 2021 with an AA in Sociology and is finishing an AA in Psychology. Being a single parent who has to work, Kaela says it's a challenge balancing school, work, and motherhood.

She works full-time for the Washoe Tribal Health Center as a fiscal intermediary.

Photos
1 - Carolyn Phillips, 2nd from right, with daughter Lily, wife Dee, son Quinn, Dan Browne of the Veteran's Alliance, and mom Jean.
2 - Carolyn Phillips during her time in the military.
3 - Kaela Horse Bearman.
4 - Kaela Horse Bearman in uniform.
5 - CJ Keith accepting the award for his cousin Kaela Horse Bearman with Dan Browne of the Lake Tahoe Veterans Alliance.
6 - The poster for the event with an example of the "challenge coin" presented to both Carolyn and Kaela.