Women In Uniform

Women In Uniform: Eight Who Fell, And One Who Steps Forward -- Politics Daily

It started with a picture -- 2nd. Lt. Emily J.T. Perez. In her United States Military Academy photograph, she holds her feathered hat, grips her sword and smiles.

Perez had a lot to smile about. She was the first minority female command sergeant in West Point history.

And she was the first combat death from the class of 2005, also known as the class of 9/11. In 2006, a roadside bomb south of Baghdad killed her.

Read more ....

My Comment: The key phrase is the following ....

Women have to be tough in today's asymmetrical warfare, where the "support" jobs are as risky as the front lines. More women have fought and died since 9/11 than in all the wars of the previous five decades combined.

What was a unique news story a few years ago .... the death of a female soldier .... is now common news and does not even lift an eyebrow. The age of these soldiers also strike me .... most of them were very young when 9/11 happened .... and now they are off to war.

On a personal note, this even impacts me at home. My friends daughter was 9 when 9/11 happened, and now she wants to join the Army .... to serve a calling that is very important to her. For personal reasons I hope that she will change her mind as she gets older .... but something tells me that she will not.

These people .... these soldiers .... they represent the best of us. I can only hope that as these wars grind on, our country does not forget that.