Staff Sgt. Serena Maren Di Virgilio, Bronze Star with ‘V’
It was only supposed to be a mission to deliver a tire to an MP patrol that had come under heavy fire along Alternate Supply Route Sword near Baghdad.
But Staff Sgt. Serena Maren Di Virgilio’s convoy drove right into an ambush.
…
And even though the medic from the Headquarters, 230th Military Police Company, was covered with shrapnel wounds, she took care of every soldier in her unit before caring for herself.
Go… read! And I don’t want to hear even one more word against women in combat.
Many thanks to Chuck Simmins for sending me the link to this one.
Sgt. di Virgilio may well be brave and devoted. But it sounds like the other two soldiers were just as brave. However, only she got the medals. Also what if her severely limited upper body strength and general, female fragility became an issue, such as in heavy lifting, carrying bodies to safety etc? Let the women be ‘corpersons’ or medics. To go further, to my mind, is just PC drivel.
Comment by Ron Proby — 15 Jun, 2005 @ 13:57
Sigh. There are women who have more upper body strength than most men their size. Qualification should be based on the ability to do the job, not the sex.
For all you know, the lady could bench-press you.
Comment by Kathy K — 15 Jun, 2005 @ 14:55
Women should be able to do anything they are capable of, with no special allowances made.
However, I don’t want to arbitrarily ignore one potential argument against sending women into combat: the idea that the men in the unit will attempt to “protect” them, to the detriment of the unit. I don’t find it a compelling argument, but it cannot be dismissed out of hand without debate.
Weirdly, one of the lefty/feminist arguments for putting women in combat units (I wish I could remember where I read it or who proposed it) was exactly that: people would be more hesitant to use the military if girls were going into harm’s way. I find the irony of it delicious.
Comment by Ken Summers — 15 Jun, 2005 @ 23:03
Check this one out too, Kathy. Silver Star.
Comment by Ken Summers — 17 Jun, 2005 @ 21:15