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"LAS VEGAS - There she is, Miss . . . Stevens.
Jill Stevens, the Utah tomboy turned combat medic turned beauty queen, was unable to take another improbable turn into the Miss America crown Saturday night. That honor went to Kirsten Haglund, 19, of Michigan, a more conventional contestant for the stately 87-year-old institution.
But Stevens' journey to the competition may nonetheless be a clue to how Americans have come to see veterans - and female veterans in particular.
The 24-year-old Utah National Guard soldier, who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan, didn't make it to a spot on the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino stage alongside 15 other contestants in spite of her Miss Utah veteran's status, but rather because of it - as an alternate finalist chosen by the viewers of the TLC cable series "Miss America: Reality Check."
Salt Lake Tribune - Miss America: New crown eludes G.I. Jill
Jill Stevens, the Utah tomboy turned combat medic turned beauty queen, was unable to take another improbable turn into the Miss America crown Saturday night. That honor went to Kirsten Haglund, 19, of Michigan, a more conventional contestant for the stately 87-year-old institution.
But Stevens' journey to the competition may nonetheless be a clue to how Americans have come to see veterans - and female veterans in particular.
The 24-year-old Utah National Guard soldier, who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan, didn't make it to a spot on the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino stage alongside 15 other contestants in spite of her Miss Utah veteran's status, but rather because of it - as an alternate finalist chosen by the viewers of the TLC cable series "Miss America: Reality Check."
Salt Lake Tribune - Miss America: New crown eludes G.I. Jill
