Miss America 2024: Two active military personnel enter a new battlefield

Madison Marsh, who wears the Miss Colorado sash, is making history as the first active duty officer and military service academy graduate to compete in the Miss America pageant. However, Marsh is not the only participant who serves in the United States military. Vanessa Munson, a human resources specialist with the 508th Military Police Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington is also seeking the crown.

Miss America 2024 will be the 96th edition of the pageant. The final night of the competition will take place on Jan. 14 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando, Fla. Forty-nine candidates will compete to be the winner of the contest founded in 1921.

Madison Marsh maintained that the Army is a place to lead in many different ways. She decided to join the contest to exemplify this, and because she believes that it can be a platform to help other people. "I felt like pageants, and specifically winning Miss Colorado, was a way to truly exemplify that and to set the tone to help make other people feel more comfortable finding what means most to them," Marsh said in a statement reported by the New York Post.

Her participation in the contest comes shortly after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy. Marsh also promotes a social project to support pancreatic cancer patients. After the death of her mother from this disease, she created the Whitney Marsh Foundation, which has raised more than $250,000 for research.

"Madison is currently a graduate intern with Harvard Medical School to utilize artificial intelligence to detect pancreatic cancer. She is now pursuing her Master's in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School with her national Truman Scholarship. In her free time, Madison enjoys flying planes, cooking pasta, and reading," her Miss Colorado bio explains.

Another story of resilience at Miss America 2024

Vanessa Munson entered Miss America 2024 because it is a contest that she has followed since she was a child, and she wants to be an inspiration for other young women as several contest winners were for her at the time.

"It wasn’t even the beauty aspect of it but more so how they made me feel as a viewer, the inspiration from watching all those amazing women. I wanted to be that," Munson highlighted in a conversation with the U.S. Army blog.

Munson acknowledges that it has not been an easy road. She said that she was mocked for her physical appearance, but stressed that being part of the Army helped her grow and get out of her comfort zone. Although she doubted whether it was a good decision to start her military career, she now appreciates all the learning.

"I think it’s the best choice I could’ve made for myself. It definitely helped make me who I am today ... I started recognizing that life is challenging, and that’s how resilience is built," Munson said.

After also facing health problems, several ear surgeries and ultimately losing her hearing, she is a woman who does not lose hope. Resilience has been key in her life to be a determined woman today. After undergoing an eighth surgery to insert a hearing device, she is ready to tell her story from the Miss America 2024 stage and motivate other young women.

"I really hope that some girl, who wants to do something impactful, can see in me that you can quite literally be anything you want to be," Munson said.