With 450,000 women now enrolled in the Veterans Administration health-care system, the Providence VA Medical Center is celebrating Women’s History Month this month.

There are 1.8 million living U.S. women veterans and the number enrolling in the VA health-care system is expected to grow by 30 percent in the next 5 years.

The Providence VA Medical Center continues to work to enhance women’s health care. In 2009, it hired a full-time women veterans’ program manager and now provides a variety of care and services to meet the comprehensive needs of women veterans.

That care ranges from general health services, including primary and gynecological care and health and wellness screenings, to mental-health services, including counseling and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and military sexual trauma.

For more information about services available to women vets, call Beth Grady, women veterans coordinator, at (401) 273-7100, ext. 6191, or Michele Jackson, federal women’s program coordinator, at (401) 273-7100, ext. 3300.

Vietnam War memorial envisioned in Lincoln

Vietnam War veterans Eddie Fox and Joe Buss have a vision for the town of Lincoln involving a new monument to honor the town’s Vietnam War veterans. The two members of James Ray Chapter 818 of Vietnam Veterans of America have been selling raffle tickets and soliciting donations from area residents and businesses to see their dream come true.

A spot for the monument has been selected next to the new senior center set to open this fall on Jenckes Hill Road. The site was offered to them by town administrator T. Joseph Almond. Fox and Buss have contacted monument makers and estimate the cost in the range of $10,000 for an appropriate stone remembrance about 5 feet wide by 3 feet tall.

Fox, a graduate of Sacred Heart Academy in Central Falls, served with the 815th Combat Engineers, and Buss, a Lincoln High School grad, saw action with the 198th Light Infantry Brigade. Both served during the infamous communist-led Tet Offensive which proved to be a turning point in the war.

Raffle tickets cost $5 each or three for $10 and are available at Larry’s Auto Repair [(401) 724-9990] at 420 Great Rd. and Ted’s Paint and Decorating [(401) 728-8399] at 194 Front St.

The 16 raffle prizes, to be drawn April 30 at the Town Hall, include stays at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casino resorts and Marriott Courtyard in Lincoln, show tickets for MGM Foxwoods, as well as restaurant gift certificates.

Meetings

•Marine Corps League: South County Detachment meets today at VFW Post 916, 155 High St., Wakefield, at 7:30 p.m. The Kent County Detachment will hold its annual Semper Fi Night fundraiser on April 3 at Club Frontenac, 1143 Main St., West Warwick, with a steak or chicken dinner at 7 p.m.; tickets are available until March 29 by calling Cindy at (401) 827-9866 or Mason at (401) 294-2913.

•Veterans of Foreign Wars: Post 152 meets Monday at 7:30 p.m., at the North Kingstown senior center on Beach Street; Smithfield Memorial Post 2929 will meet on Wednesday at 7 p.m., at 47 Farnum Pike; Silvia Post Auxiliary 5392, 134 Shove St., Tiverton, will meet Sunday at 11 a.m.; Lymansville Auxiliary Memorial Unit 10011 will meet Sunday at 3 p.m., at 354 Fruit Hill Ave., North Providence; president Karen Lavoie will lead a delegation to the midwinter conference in Las Vegas from March 18-21.

•Warwick Veterans Council will meet Tuesday at VFW Post 183, 176 Washington St., Warwick, at 6:30 p.m.

•American Legion: Post 12 will meet Tuesday at Saratoga Foundation Headquarters, 6854 Post Rd., North Kingstown, at 7:30 p.m.; Berard-Desjarlais Post 88, 111 Chapel St., Harrisville, will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m.; Warren Post 11 will meet Thursday at Warren’s senior center in the Town Hall, at 6:30 p.m.; the Department’s auxiliary children and youth meeting will be held on Thursday at department headquarters, at 7:30 p.m.; Armstrong-Gladding Post 69 Auxiliary will host a fundraiser to benefit the Bristol Veterans Home residents on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. with a corned beef dinner at 2 Salem St., Providence, and tickets cost $9 at the door or call Fred at (401) 270-6625.

•R.I. Association of the United States Army executive committee will meet on Wednesday at 7 p.m., at VFW Post 10011, 354 Fruit Hill Ave., North Providence.

•Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 273 will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m., at VFW Post 2812, 1418 Plainfield St., Cranston; James Ray Chapter 818 will meet Thursday at 7 p.m., at Lincoln’s senior center at 40 Chapel St.

•U.S. Army Special Forces Association Rhode Island Chapter 48 will meet Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., at the Corner Tavern, 20 South County Trail, North Kingstown. The charity bowling fundraiser will be held on April 2 at East Providence Lanes; call Robert for details at (401) 714-2207.

•Jewish War Veterans Post 23 will meet on Thursday at 11 a.m., featuring a guest speaker from the Providence Police Department, with lunch to follow at 1 Rhodes Place, Broad St., Cranston; reservations must be made by Tuesday by calling Steve at (401) 463-5159.

•Destroyer Escort Sailors Association will have a luncheon meeting on Friday at Magoni’s Ferry Landing, 680 Riverside Ave., Somerset, Mass.; for further information call Roland at (508) 995-1566.

•R.I. National Guard Retirees Association will conduct its quarterly meeting on Saturday at Schofield Armory, 705 New London Ave., Cranston, with registration and coffee at 9 a.m. and the business meeting to follow.

•Seabee Veterans of America Island X-1 Davisville will meet at the Seabee Museum, 21 Iafrate Way, North Kingstown, on Saturday at 9 a.m.

•Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Rhode Island Chapter will meet Sunday, at 10 a.m., at the Armory of Mounted Commands, 1051 North Main St., Providence.

Send veterans’ meeting and news items to George W. Reilly at VeteransColumn@verizon.net or write to The Veterans’ Journal Column at The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, R.I. 02902. Veterans’ meeting and feature items can be read and posted for free at http://projothebeat.com/.