Memorial Day 2021

 

Women in Combat

“I do not believe in using women in combat, because they are too fierce.”

Margaret Mead

“I think women are too valuable to be in combat.”

Casper Weinberger

          Did you know that during World War II, 400,000 women served in the US military, and 543 died? Women pilots ferried planes from factories where they were built to bases in combat areas. Nurses died in the Korean war—sixteen of them. Eleven thousand women served during the Viet Nam war, and eight died. So far in Iraq and Afghanistan, 800 American women have been wounded, and 200 have died. Little known fact: women have served in the US Army since the Revolutionary War. Altogether, 2.5 million women have served in the United States armed forces.

There is a memorial dedicated to military women. It sits at the western entrance to Arlington National Cemetery. It was approved by Congress in 1988, but not built and dedicated until 1997. Every year, approximately 200,000 people visit the Women’s Memorial as opposed to the four million who visit Arlington Cemetery.

          Whether or not women “should” be in combat is no longer a question—they are in combat, and always have been. And, if I were choosing, I would not want to go up against them. Anyone who has ever watched a mama bear defend her cubs knows that females are not pansies. They are, as Margaret Mead said, fierce. And as warriors, they can be trusted to get the job done.

          So, why is it that we don’t think of the women who gave their lives—both at home and abroad—when we commemorate our dead soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines on Memorial Day? That is a question for the ages, isn’t it? Consider this contrast: the flag planting statue from the iconic Iwo Jima photo was built and dedicated in 1954, exactly 9 years after Iwo Jima was captured.

          While you are contemplating the meaning of Memorial Day today, think too of the women who died fighting for their country, side by side with military men. They were not drafted—they went by choice. That, to me, is worthy of recognition.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane