Coffee for the Military

The month of March is National Women's History Month. Women's roles in United States military history have been progressing since the American Revolution.  We'd like to share some notable moments of that long, hard-fought history that we found at WomensMemorial.org.

Civil War (1861-1865): Women provide casualty care and nursing. In 1866, Dr. Mary Walker receives the Medal of Honor. She is the only woman to receive the nation's highest military honor. Dr. Walker served as a surgeon for the Union Army and was captured by Confederate forces while treating wounded civilians across enemy lines. She was held as a Prisoner of War for four months.

World War I (1917-1918): 21,480 Army nurses serve in military hospitals in the United States and overseas. The Navy enlists 11,880 women to serve stateside in shore billets and release sailors for sea duty.  More than 400 military nurses die in the line of duty during World War I.

World War II (1941-1945): More than 60,000 Army nurses serve during World War II. The Army establishes the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in 1942, which is converted to the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in 1943. More than 150,000 women serve as WACs during the war. More than 14,000 Navy nurses serve. In 1943, the US Public Health Service establishes the Cadet Nurse Corps which trains some 125,000 women for possible military service. More than 400,000 American military women serve at home and overseas in nearly all non combat jobs.

1947: The Army-Navy Nurse Act of 1947 makes the Army Nurse Corps and Women's Medical Specialist Corps part of the Regular Army and gives permanent commissioned officer status to Army and Navy nurses.

1961: The first female Marine, Bertha Peters Billeb, is promoted to Sergeant Major.

1970: The first women in the history of the armed forces, the Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, Anna Mae Hays, and the Women's Army Corps Director, Elizabeth Hoisington, are promoted to brigadier general.

1974: Sally Murphy becomes the first female military helicopter pilot in the Army.

1989: 770 women deploy to Panama in Operation Just Cause. Two women command Army companies in the operation and three women Army pilots are nominated for Air Medals. Two receive the Air Medal with "V" device for participation in a combat mission.

Persian Gulf War (1990-1991): Some 40,000 American military women are deployed during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

1993: Congress repeals the law banning women from duty on combat ships. Women deploy with the USS Fox.

• Jill Henderson is the first woman to be named the Army’s "Drill Sergeant of the Year" in the 24-year history of this competition.

1998: For the first time, a woman fighter pilot delivers a payload of missiles and laser-guided bombs in combat. She is in the first wave of US strikes against Iraq in Operation Desert Fox.

2004: By year's end, 19 servicewoman had been killed as a result of hostile action since the war in Iraq had begun in 2003, the most servicewoman to die as a result of hostile action in any war that the nation had participated.

2005: Leigh Ann Hester is the first woman in history to be awarded the Silver Star for combat action. She is one of 14 women in US history to receive the medal. She received the honor for “thwarting an Iraqi insurgent ambush.”

2008: General Ann Dunwoody becomes the first woman in US military history to be promoted to the 
rank of four-star general.

We at Devil Dog Brew would like to thank all of the women who have sacrificed so much for the United States of America. Dedicate your morning cup of coffee to them.