Editor’s note: The Journal’s Unsung Heroes series spotlights a local veteran each Monday from Memorial Day to Veterans Day. If you would like to nominate an Unsung Hero, email [email protected].
CHARLES TOWN — Dawn Rix is known for many things — her country music career, her service as an autism advocate, her Charles Town-based business Dawn Rix Signature Salon and her work as the executive director of the Miss Shenandoah Scholarship Organization. But one of her proudest achievements happens to be much less widely known.
Rix spent four years as a Medical Service Specialist in the 167th West Virginia Air National Guard. And although she left the military in 1997 after the birth of her son, she said she would join back up in a heartbeat.
“If there weren’t an age limit, I would go back!” Rix, who along with her son has a daughter and three grandsons, said. “I am so proud of being in the Air National Guard. It’s something that, I think, everyone should experience.”
According to Rix, she particularly appreciated how equalizing the military experience was.
“When I went through basic training, I was in a unit with women from so many different walks of life — one was a stripper, another was devoutly religious and another was from a well-off family. But we quickly learned that we were going to be judged by the same standards,” Rix said.
For Rix, this experience built her up into a stronger individual. One of her drill instructors took a particular interest in her recent title as Miss Berkeley County 1991, regularly making fun of her history as a beauty queen over her six weeks in basic training and singing the theme song of the Miss America pageant, “There She Is, Miss America,” in Rix’s presence. But in spite of the criticism — or perhaps because of it — she came out of Basic Military Training more confident and disciplined than when she went in. And, when she won the crown of Miss Jefferson County 1995 and went on to compete in the Miss West Virginia pageant for the second time, she realized that, unlike in 1991, she did not feel intimidated by the experience.
“The internal growth I experienced, during my time in the military, enabled me to succeed,” Rix said. “I was empowered to go after my dreams.”
As a Miss America Competition mentor, Rix uses the lessons she learned from the military to bring out the confidence in young women throughout the state of West Virginia. She said that she wishes West Virginia’s high schools could implement a program similar to that of Basic Military Training, so that more people would be able to benefit from the experience, as she did.
“It changed my life!” Rix said, mentioning she was awarded the Coin of Excellence for her service. “I also made history in 1995, because I was the first military female to compete in the Miss West Virginia pageant. I’m incredibly proud of that accomplishment.”
While in her time in the military, Rix was asked to sing for dignitaries on a number of occasions. That experience proved to be only the starting point for her career as a singer-songwriter. Her multi-award winning work has since proven so successful that she was named Female Vocalist of the Year in 2024 by the International Singer-Songwriters Association and, last November, was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Who’s Hoo Country Music Awards. Her next album will come out in October.
Rix also released her first children’s book last year, titled “Yes, Yes You Can.” The empowering book is available on Amazon and at some local bookstores.
To learn more, follow Rix on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and visit https://dawnrix.com/.
