You Don't Know

Bravery doesn't look like what you think.

“Lost in Hell, Persephone, Take her head upon your knee; Say to her, "My dear, my dear, It is not so dreadful here. ”
 — Edna St. Vincent Millay

 I get so fed up with those God-damned sons of bitches people who complain about women in our armed services.  I get so sick of reading pundits and commenters who disparage women who volunteer to serve.  Fortunately I am not alone:
"How dare someone who's never served a day of their life criticize my Marine Corps and tell other folks who never served a day in their life what the military is all about?
It takes 10 supporting troops for every front line Marine the military fields, much more for the Army. Women were not officially allowed combat duties as recently as the start of the Iraq war, but since then they have more than held their own with the men. So, in spite of these colorful illustrations about women not being able to drag wounded men off the battlefield, this whining and moaning comes from a bunch of cooks and supply clerks who wouldn't know combat if it hit them in the face.
"On the other hand, the female MPs who deployed to Iraq had extensive training on everything from squad movements to heavy weapons. We used to let our females show our support-mos augments how to break apart and re-assemble the .50 cal. Even our 0311 platoon commander lamented that the higher-ups wouldn't allow fully capable women to go outside the wire while we had to risk our lives alongside untrained water purifier augments.
"When my platoon was awarded combat action ribbons for our role in the initial invasion, the female Navy corpsman we had with us was not allowed to have one by her chain of command. It would have been too unprecedented to admit that a female performed the same combat duties as male Marines. Meanwhile she was also caring for wounded enemy prisoners under fire.
"And let's not belittle just how hard females work to overcome the physical shortcomings that they do have. Back when I was in boot camp, the female battalion would have reveille an hour before the rest of us on days we had PT and they would stay out there running for an hour after we were through.
"Face it, we have a volunteer armed forces and we should not begrudge anyone who is willing to put on a uniform and serve. Especially if you're some do-nothing writer who's better suited to staying in the rear and bringing a beer for some of the females service members that you belittle.
"But most importantly of all, I will not stand for some civilian trying to tell people that today's military is in any way lesser than any military from a prior generation. Now that is the ultimate mark of an armchair amateur who probably couldn't hack it through forming week on Paris Island.
"Today's military, especially the Marines, is smarter, harder, and more disciplined than ever. We kill more and die less--that is a fact; and when we're wounded there might be a female surgeon in fatigues saving our life. And there are some corporals with master's degrees out there serving in the infantry. They are up against some of the most dynamic battlefield conditions that require more training and knowledge than ever before.
"This is not like one of the scenes from Battle of the Bulge where a Colonel tells some Private to keep his head down. This is the NCO's war. So to all the old geezers and ignorant fools who find it easy to sit on their couch and say that my Marine Corps has been getting soft, I have to say they're just wishing they were good enough themselves."
--BBK 

 "I have known some pretty tough ladies over the years. One NCO, shot in the leg by a young private on the range when he let off an ND with his rifle, still had the grit to beat the shit out of him before they carted her off to the hospital. One of my ancestors was a crack shot with a rifle in Kentucky in the 1700s. She was a Whitley. Asked by a Shawnee warrior why her husband let her have a weapon (in a very condescending way), she replied “So I can kill you bastards when you raid my farm.” The Shawnee stayed away from her farm. Rumor has it that she even beat Daniel Boone at a turkey shoot. My Great grandma was an Irish girl who never considered herself properly dressed unless she was packing a Peacemaker, and she was a very good shot. And in 2006, we had a young lady at the PRT who could handle a MK-19 like Yo Yo Ma handles a cello. She was a local legend to our Afghan troops. Skill, determination, and courage are not limited by gender, and I know a lot of males I would not want on the line with me. Politics must never dictate watering down standards in order go get the “minority du jour” a place of preferment. But neither should we deny ourselves the services of ass kicking warriors who happen to be women."
--RP

And you know what?  War is war and those we have fought this century have been brutal.  For the women who served as well as the men:

"During the war I was equal at last, and often it was too much to bear.  I ate breakfast like a woman with a wired jaw, so much did I dread having to go out there and face it all.  There are stories I could tell but so very much has already been said, and none of it ever made any difference at all."
--Gloria E.

 "The war was the pivotal event of my life. Yet I never mention my days on helicopter assaults, my fear of getting shot in the face, for the same reason most marines kept quiet. Nobody wants to hear about it, and even if they did, they wouldn’t understand."
--Diane F. 

"Wars don't end. Every bullet leaves an exit wound. Lives stop, dreams collapse, futures implode."
--Lara P. 

 

An old cartoon.