Olivia Chavez-Carroll and Graciela Tiscareno-Sato
Olivia Chavez-Carroll and Graciela Tiscareno-Sato.
This VHVtv episode features co-hosts Olivia Chavez-Carroll and Graciela Tiscareno-Sato. These two important voices represent a great many women who we usually don’t see as veterans on a daily basis – Hispanic women who have served in uniform.
Together they discuss their experiences as Latina women serving in the military and what inspired their military service, intense moments during their deployments, their families, their current passion projects as they serve communities they care about and advice for young people contemplating military service.
Graciela says “Even though we are both Latinas with Mexican roots, our stories couldn’t be more different.”
Graciela is the daughter of immigrants and served in the U.S.. Air Force as a pilot of a KC135 Refueling Tanker. Her office was a flying gas station. Olivia comes from a family that counts 14 veterans and one currently deployed, across 4 branches of service. Despite her deep military history, she was the first woman in her family to serve in uniform. She is the first Latina aviator to fly for the State of South Carolina She is grateful for the opportunity to deploy to Afghanistan to fly Chinook heavy-lift helicopter missions over there.
It is important that the American populace understands that Latinas are combat veterans too.
Filmed in the MidPen Media Center studio in Palo Alto, Ca, Tuesday, November 5, 2019.
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I can not thank Sheryl Shaffer enough for VHVTV.ORG and her continued work with Veterans. I pioneer in her own right as part of the Women’s Army Corps in 1968 she is a Trailblazer that continues to serve in media arts by sharing her platform in order to share our work to the community as well. This program last year was FANTASTIC and if you would sit with Graciela and I today you would be amazed the work that has occurred in the last 12 mos. Thank you again Sheryl for allowing me the privilege to be a part of your craft.
Olivia ~
Thank you Olivia for your lovely comments. We are recording our history as women veterans and you and Graciela are Women Veteran Aviator trail blazers yourselves!