KOKOMO, Ind. (WISH) — America’s first female U.S. Marine, Opha May Johnson, a Kokomo native, is getting a monument dedicated to her trailblazing life this Veterans Day.

Robin Williams of the Howard County Memorial Corporation joined News 8 on Monday to talk about the unveiling ceremony.

“This monument is an iconic example of what it means to be a woman in the military,” Williams said, “Opha May Johnson was the first female Marine and she became a Marine in 1918, and that was two years before women had the right to vote.”

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Carol Mutter, the first woman to earn the rank of three-star general in the United States military, will be joining the ceremony. “We’re so very excited to have her today tell us about what it means for Kokomo to be honoring women in the military,” Williams said.

HCMC President Jerry Paul raised over $100,000 for the monument through grants, local and state government donations, and from individual contributions.

“This is the most significant monument built to date for Opha May Johnson,” Paul said in a press release, “It will forever memorialize Johnson’s contribution for future women of the United States Marine Corps, Howard County, and the City of Firsts.”

HCMC has done a lot of work in telling unheard stories, such as the five Tuskegee Airmen from Kokomo, says Williams. “I just think it’s important to illuminate those stories and to really uplift the legacies of those who have not been uplifted.”

The official unveiling ceremony will be at the Howard County Veterans Memorial Park 600 S. Goyer Road at 1 p.m. on Monday.

Williams says there’s going to be a lot of fanfare at the celebration, with HCMC President Paul flying in on a Huey helicopter.

Be sure to see the three walled monument’s incredible craftmanship for yourself. It features a bronze relief of Johnson by famous sculpture Benjamin Victor, Johnson’s biography, and a stained glass logo of the Marine Corps by local artisan Linda Yoder.