(Editor’s note: Amy McGrath has been called to the White House on the original, scheduled event date. This story has been updated to reflect the rescheduling of the Behringer-Crawford event to Wednesday, July 10, at 6:30 p.m.)
Behringer-Crawford Museum has announced the upcoming NKY History Hour featuring “Honor Bound: Amy McGrath” on Wednesday, July 10, at 6:30 p.m. The special event will spotlight the remarkable achievements and ongoing dedication of Northern Kentucky native Amy McGrath.
Amy McGrath made history as the first woman in the Marine Corps to fly a combat mission in an F/A-18. Her pioneering spirit and commitment to service have defined her career, both in the military and beyond. After retiring from the Marine Corps, Amy has continued her service mission by running for public office in 2018 and 2020. Today, she focuses her efforts on supporting other women and pro-democracy candidates in their campaigns for public office.
Join BCM Wednesday, July 10 at 6:30 p.m. as McGrath shares her experiences, challenges, and triumphs, offering a unique perspective on leadership, service, and the importance of civic engagement.
Register and participate in the free presentation by Behringer-Crawford Museum online.
Information on connecting to the Zoom session will be sent after registration. The event will also be streamed live on BCM’s Facebook page. All recordings of past episodes can be viewed at www.bcmuseum.org.
McGrath graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1997 and served 20 years as a Marine Corps officer. She served as an F/A-18 weapons systems officer (backseater) and an F/A-18 pilot, completed three combat deployments, and flew 89 combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2002, She became the first woman in the Marine Corps to fly a combat mission in an F/A-18. She has also deployed to numerous countries around the world flying in Japan, South Korea, Australia and various countries in the Middle East.
After her operational flying tours, McGrath served as a Congressional Fellow, advising a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on defense and foreign policy. Subsequently, she served in the Pentagon as Marine Corps’ liaison to the State Department and other federal agencies. She earned a master’s degree in international security from Johns Hopkins University, and she is a graduate of the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction’s Program for Emerging Leaders at the National Defense University. Her final assignment was as a senior instructor in the Political Science Department at the US Naval Academy before retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and moving back home to Kentucky to raise her family. There, she served as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House and Senate in 2018 and 2020.
She is the author of a book titled Honor Bound: An American Story of Dreams and Service published by Knopf. It’s a memoir of her time in the military, what propelled her to run for office and the hard lessons in leadership, sacrifice, and patriotism she’s learned along the way. In 2022, President Biden appointed McGrath to be a member of the US Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors. She also serves on the boards of IAVA — Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America — and The Ploughshares Fund and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
NKY History Hour programs regularly take place every other Tuesday evening from 6:30-7:30 p.m. and are free to the public. To support NKY History Hour and access many other entertaining and thought-provoking programs for free, join BCM today.
Behringer-Crawford Museum