For 1st time, female veterans gather at McHenry County symposium

For the first time, women who served in the military from McHenry County and beyond gathered at a female veterans symposium this fall.The symposium was held in October at the McHenry County building in Woodstock and organized by the McHenry County Veterans Assistance Commission.It featured speakers, opportunities for networking and information about resources, among other things.Sarah Langlois, a former veterans service officer at the VAC, said female veterans are an underserved population, and there wasn’t a lot of VAC programming and resources focused on women specifically, she said.So Langlois, herself an Air Force veteran, and her colleagues worked to put on the symposium, which sold out in its first year. There are plans do it again in the future.Cary resident and Army Nurse Corps veteran Judy Marshall attended the symposium with a couple of friends.Marshall said she doesn’t necessarily feel the need herself for many of the services and support systems available. But she said it “