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Thirteen female veterans with a combined 141 years of military service traded their combat gear for vintage glam for the 2027 Pin-Ups For Vets calendar.
The labor of love, which raises money for veterans’ healthcare, features women from every branch of the military dolled up as the 1940s poster girls who boosted morale during World War II.
“It’s a way for them to find that purpose again, to find that community of female veterans,” said founder Gina Elise, who hand-picked the models from 200 applicants across the country.
“It’s also a way for them to re-embrace that femininity after having to put that on the back burner.”
Santa Barbara Mediavilla and Amy Jeanes, who are both featured as Miss June, and Miss July Amanda Wood, didn’t get done up for the battlefield, and so preparation for their calendar shoot was a change of pace for the Army vets.
“When the girls did my makeup, I felt like a beauty queen,” said Mediavilla, who served 21 years as an Apache pilot, helicopter mechanic and chief warrant officer.
The women bonded over their shared military experiences, including the challenge of having to prove they could keep up with the men.
“In every avionics platoon I served in, women were a rarity. There were usually only two or three of us,” said Wood, 41, of Washington, who was 22 when she deployed to Iraq.
“Weighing in at just over 100 pounds . . . I carried the same amount in my ruck sack as a 300-plus pound lineman,” added Jeanes, 38, of Southern California, who served for five years and reached the rank of captain.
“Many of those guys didn’t even know it was a female covering them until I asked for their positions,” Mediavilla, 49, said.
“There was silence on the radio. [So I’d say] ‘Yes, this is a female talking,’” said the Brooklyn native, who was the only female in her flight school class.
The trio hopes to challenge the “outdated stereotype” that all veterans are male.
“I work in a predominantly male-dominated industry, but when they find out that I’ve led soldiers into war, they’re like, ‘OK, maybe she knows a little bit of what she’s talking about,’” said Jeanes, who now works as a project manager.
Elise, whose grandfather served in the Army during World War II, launched the calendar in 2006, and thought it would be a one-time project — until she started dressing up and delivering them to veterans’ hospitals.
“A lot of times, they’re not getting visitors … and they would see this World War II pinup girl come in and their whole demeanor would change. They would say, ‘Oh my gosh, am I dreaming?’” she said.
“So I always say, ‘It’s the power of the pin-up.’”
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