Women Are the VA’s Fastest-Growing Veterans
One hundred eight years after Opha May Johnson became the first woman Marine, women are the fastest-growing group the VA serves — and the department is racing to reach the ones who never came in.
On this day in 1918, Opha May Johnson walked to the front of a line in Washington and became the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps.
One hundred eight years later, her successors are the fastest-growing patient population the VA serves — more than a million women veterans now enrolled, and by the department’s own count, millions more who have never walked in the door. The VA has spent 2026 chasing them, running regional enrollment summits and a “Million Women Veteran” outreach push.
Reaching a veteran is the easy part. Being ready with the right care when she arrives is the test that counts.
