Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

August 21, 2009 By LL
Posted in Guest Blogger, Military History

I was thinking about military women the other day. Past and present. They have made great strides since they were first allowed to serve openly (besides being nurses) during World War II. I say openly because when our country was founded, a woman by the name of Deborah Sampson served in disguise as a man for 3 years, taking the fight to the British. She even did surgery on herself to remove a musket ball from her own thigh.

“At a field hospital a French doctor bound up the head wound, but was not advised of the thigh injury. When the doctor began to attend another wounded soldier, Deborah limped out of the hospital, and later, with iron nerve, using her knife, managed to extract the musket ball in her thigh. She was some time recovering from her wounds until she was able to rejoin her company.“

And because she was thought to be a man, she served in the Light Infantry. She was a grunt.

Officially though, women couldn’t serve outside of nursing until the WAAC was formed in 1942 (later to be known as WAC). They were “auxiliary.” That word brings to mind typing and fetching coffee. But they were so much more. According to this article, they landed at Normandy a few weeks after the initial invasion. They’ve “been there, done that.”

Other branches opened up and there were WAVEs and WASPs. Women who served with distinction. One thing I discovered was that a handful of women in the WASPs towed target planes for anti-aircraft live fire practice. Stop and wrap your mind around that concept for a moment. Would you tow a plane to get shot at? Seriously?? Another little known fact is that the women who died during this time were not afforded the honor of a flag draped casket or even having the military pay to return their remains. That was left up to family and friends. They weren’t real military, I suppose.

And guess what…women have been receiving awards like the Medal of Honor and the Silver Star going back to the Civil War. Yes, they have served with distinction for all these years, through war after war, battle after battle. Laying down their lives alongside the men.

So next time you see a woman in uniform, think back to this blog post. Think of Lori Piestewa and Leigh Ann Hester or Monica Brown, who both were awarded Silver Stars, SGT Hester in Iraq and SPC Brown in Afghanistan. Think of the WAACs and WASPs and all the others who went before. Thank them for their outstanding service to our nation, going back to the very founding of it.

Oh, and that picture above…the tall gangly woman on the left….that would be Goldie Caroline Hundertmark. She and I share the same middle name. I know this why and how? Because she’s my grandmother and I’m damn proud of her and her service to the United States of America.

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