Out of the millions of Americans who served in the Vietnam War, only a few thousand were women. Parade-goers in Saugerties spent this Fourth of July honoring seven of those women.

Among them was Joan Furey, who was a nurse during the war. She says she's not only honored she was able to serve her country, but grateful for the lives she was able to save in the process. 

"When I go to the wall in Washington, D.C., I know because I was there and because all these other women were there, there are a lot of people who's names would have been on that wall if we hadn't been there. And they're not; they're here today," Furey said.

Carol Caoruana served as a doctor in the Navy and says though there were some good times during her service, her experience was anything but that. To this day, she still remembers the faces of the men she tried to save. 

"He was dead when they brought him in because a 'bouncing betty' had hit him and blew all of his innards out. I got to him and he said to me, 'please stay with me; I know I'm dying, but I don't want to die alone,' " Caoruana said.

While women in Vietnam were few and far between, Caoruana says there's power in strength, not numbers. 

"You couldn't find a better bunch of women to help our wounded, our dead, and the ones we tried so hard to save but couldn't," Caoruana said.