Gina Elise was always passionate about art and storytelling but never imagined her path would lead to becoming a pinup for veterans. War would change her plans.
“I have been involved in leadership since I was 13 years old and then all through high school. I really gained these skills of creating things from the ground up. I was the activities director for my high school one year. I felt like it was important to use your skills to make things better for those around you,” she explained.
Elise loved dancing and acting as a child, majoring in theater at UCLA before graduating in 2004. Though she continued to make art in her spare time, she took a role in hospitality managing a hotel. About two years into it, the wounded troops started returning home to LA from combat in the Iraq War.
“I just felt very strongly that I wanted to do something now. I did not grow up near a military base or a military town. My grandfather was a World War II Army veteran, so my mom talked a lot about him and his service to us,” Elise said. “I just felt this very strong pull to do something for our troops that were coming back.”
Another important thing to her and her family was healthcare, as both her grandfather and father were pharmacists. At just 23 years old, Elise began to ask herself how she could raise money or do something to impact the quality of life for America’s warriors.
“I’d always been a big fan of the 1940s aesthetic. I don’t know if that comes from my theater days with musicals and that kind of thing. The 40s and 50s, I’ve always been a big fan. During World War II, they used to paint these beautiful women on the sides of aircraft, sort of to boost the morale of the troops during the war,” Elise shared. “They called it nose art because they would paint the women on the nose of the plane and it was a reminder of what they were fighting for back home.”
In 1941, America entered into the fray of World War II. With it triggered the age of the “pin-up.” The sometimes racy photos would be traded between the troops and taped up in lockers. It was unofficially sanctioned by the U.S. military as a way to boost the morale of the fighting force. Remembering this, Elise had an idea.
“I thought maybe I should combine my love of that art form to create a pinup calendar that could, in turn, raise money for veterans and troops today. So that’s what I did. I didn’t know what I was doing,” she laughed. “I’ve never done anything like this but I had produced things from the ground up, right? I had friends that were photographers but I never made a calendar. Didn’t know how to promote it or anything. But I mean, I like that. I like challenges.”
For each month, Elise donned a different wig, outfit and aesthetic for the calendar. Then she got dressed up and started visiting military and veteran hospitals. At the end of the first year, she donated all the proceeds to her local VA hospital.
“I did this project for a year late at night and in between working full time. I figured that would be it but the military bloggers kept sharing and it grew bigger than I ever imagined. I have to give them a big shout out! Then the initial supporters asked me when the next calendar was coming out,” Elise said. “So then I was like, okay, just one more time.”
For four years, she was the face of pinup calendars and visiting service members and veterans, then she realized it was bigger than she thought.
“Seeing the reaction of the patients and how it would really brighten their day — they did not expect that a World War II pinup girl was going to walk into their room with a gift. Sometimes the smallest gestures can make a really big difference and some of the patients would start to cry, like, oh my gosh, am I dreaming? And say ‘Oh, what a blast from the past.’ Just to get their mind off the fact that they’re in the hospital really was meaningful,” Elise shared. “I could see the impact of being there in person for people when they’re going through a struggle. So fast-forward four years and I ended up resigning from my job in the hotel industry to see if I could make this happen full-time.”
Elise started getting messages from female veterans asking if they could join her on her hospital visits.
“I started having the ladies come with me and I could see the difference when I had female veterans come with me. When I would introduce them, the patients would say, ‘Wait, she’s a veteran, like, she’s a Marine?’ They were shocked and then there’s that instant connection of asking where each other served and it was just that veteran-to-veteran bond that I cannot, no matter what I do, I can’t recreate that,” she explained. “I realized, wow, this is so special to have these women coming along with me. It also gave them a purpose of service. They call it service after service.”
Pin-Ups for Vets, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, just released their 19th calendar.
“The organization has many different initiatives. One is donating rehab equipment to veterans hospitals across the United States,” Elise said. “We’re also on a 50-state tour right now and have individually visited 20,000 veterans. We also do makeovers of veterans in their rooms to give them a special boost.”
There have been hundreds of special visits over the years but there was one story that brought Elise to tears recalling the experience.
“I got a letter from a Marine Corps combat veteran just telling me what that visit meant to him. He basically went from being a Marine infantryman to being on a psychiatric ward,” Elise said. “He said it was one of the most dehumanizing experiences of his life but that our visit made him feel like a hero again.”
That’s just one of the many reasons why Gina Elise is more than MIGHTY.
To learn more about Pin-Ups for Vets, you can click here.