Women in Combat: Should They Fight for Freedom?

As America prepares to honor our fallen men and women of the military on Memorial Day, should we rethink our policies on women in combat who have proven that with their courage, more soldiers have not fallen? A Tribute to Army Specialist Monica Brown, Recipient of The Silver Star:

The Silver Star is America's third highest combat medal awarded for heroic bravery, and on March 20, 2008, the Silver Star was awarded to Sergeant First Class Monica Brown. Brown is the second woman since WWII to receive the Silver Star but according to military policy, PFC Monica Brown was not supposed to be in combat on April 25, 2007 when her heroic act saved lives. Brown was sent on a combat mission because there was no other medic to assign that day. After 18-year-old Brown's selfless act of bravery, and against her wishes, she was removed from combat duty and offered an assignment at the White House.

In the March 2008 award ceremony at the Joint Task Force Mess Hall at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, Vice President Dick Cheney pinned the Silver Star on the brave woman soldier from Lake Jackson, Texas. During the award ceremony, Vice President Cheney honored Monica Brown by saying:

The Silver Star is presented to Specialist Monica Brown for extraordinary heroism while serving as a combat medic on patrol on April 25, 2007. While on patrol, the trail vehicle struck an IED which ignited the fuel, engulfing the vehicle in an intense fireball. The patrol began to take small arms and mortar fire. As the element retired fire, PFC Brown immediately dismounted her vehicle, and without regard for her personal safety, moved to the burning vehicle amid intense enemy fire.

After arriving at the vehicle, PFC Brown began to treat two casualties. As she treated the wounded soldiers, intense enemy fire continued to impact her immediate vicinity. On several occasions, PFC Brown used her body to shield the casualties from enemy fire, as well as the explosions of ammunition. PFC Brown moved to the more protected position with her patients, and continued treatment as enemy small arms fire continued to impact around her. Once again, PFC Brown shielded the wounded with her body.

Specialist Brown's heroism and selfless devotion to duty reflect great credit upon herself, Task Force Fury, the Combined Joint Task Force-82, and the United States Army.

A report published by Ann Scott Tyson in The Washington Post gives a chilling, detailed account of the terrifying mission and Brown's heroic acts in combat after searching for a Taliban leader near Jani Khel in Afghanistan. Staff Sergeant Aaron Best, a gunner from North Carolina who was on the mission with Brown, tells The Washington Post that Brown never missed a beat that day and he has seen male soldiers that did not have the courage and were not able to hold up under fire the way Brown did.

In a recent episode of Carrier(10-hour PBS series from April 27 - May 1, 9-11 ET) the first-hand look at life on the Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, a male Navy supervising enlisted member complained that women on the carrier often whine about not being able to lift things and other restricting physical problems that, in his mind, make it harder to work with women in the military. Women are not banned from combat duty or any other military duty based on physical limitations or gender, but rather banned from combat duty based on 1992 rules and cultural differences in some regions that make women in combat a larger risk for military commanders. President George W. Bush defends the Army's rules and says America should not have women in combat.

Congratulations go out to Specialist Monica Brown for receiving the Silver Star and thank you, Specialist Monica Brown, for your heroic combat service to your country. The families of the soldiers that Brown saved that day are probably grateful that the Army broke policy on April 25, 2007. How many more lives could be saved if the Army changed their policies about women in combat?

Sources:

Vice President's Remarks in Dinner with the Troops
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/03/20080320-11.html

Woman Gains Silver Star -- And Removal From Combat
Case Shows Contradictions of Army Rules
By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 1, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043003415_pf.html

Carrier, PBS
http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/