Sisters in Service
“The defense of our nation is a shared responsibility. Women have serve in the defense of this land for years before our United States was born. They have contributed their talents, skills, and courage to this endeavor for more than two centuries with an astounding record of achievement that stretches from Lexington and Concord to the Persian Gulf and beyond.”
–Retired General Gordon R. Sullivan Chief of Staff of the Army 1991-1995
Women have served both on the battlefront and closer to home in official military capacities throughout U.S. history. In Fort Logan National Cemetery, over 2,300 women are interred. Looking at these women’s lives, you will find a snapshot of the extensive and varied history of the service and sacrifice of female veterans. Women’s experiences in earlier wars differed vastly from their experiences in later conflicts. During World War Two, women served primarily as nurses or in the women’s segregated units such as the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) or the Women’s Auxiliary Pilots (WASPs). In the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, women served primarily as nurses although as the following stories describe, women seized opportunities during these wars to serve in military capacities as well. By the Persian Gulf War there was a major shift as 40,000 women served in various positions all across the armed forces. Still, women faced limitations to how they could serve their country. It was not until 2015 that women could serve in front-line combat positions and finally in 2016 the Army opened all specialties, branches and career fields to women.
As the following stories describe, there was no common female experience of war. Women who chose to serve their country did so with pride, ambivalence, determination and even fear. Their stories, struggles, and sacrifices are less known than those of men and the time to hear and think about them is perhaps long overdue.
