Des Moines resident Carol Whitmore has become the first woman and the first Iowan to lead the Veterans of Foreign Wars as commander-in-chief.

She was elected to the post Aug. 13 during the 126th VFW National Convention in Columbus, Ohio.

More than 200 people from around the country will celebrate her election at a formal commander-in-chief homecoming event in downtown Des Moines later this month, according to Catch Des Moines.

“I may be the first veteran to have been elected VFW commander-in-chief while wearing a dress … the first female veteran, but I will not be the last,” Whitmore said during her acceptance speech, according to the VFW . “And as I have said while campaigning, I am your comrade by mud, by blood, by dust, by dirt, by sand, by land, by sea, by air … I am a veteran fir

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