Women in the Military

In the 1700s, women had little role in war or in the military. The extent of their involvement came from being laundress, nurses, or cooks after proving to the commanding officers that their presence would be beneficial. Due to women not being allowed to fight in the U.S. military, during the Revolutionary War, Deborah Sampson disguises herself as a man and fights in the military until she is injured and discovered to be a woman. She was honorably discharged and given a pension from the Continental Congress in following years. Many women did this throughout the years. For instance, Elizabeth Newcom in the Mexican War and many in the Spanish-American War. Women were given more responsibility in the war effort during the Spanish-American war with 33,000 acting as spies and support staff and 400 nurses die in the line of duty. It was not until 1948 when Congress passed the Women’s Armed Service Integration Act that granted women permanent status in the military and allowed them to recieve from veterans benefits. In 1991, Congress authorized women to fly in combat missions and in ‘93 authorized women to serve on combat ships. Since then, we have seen a great amount of change. In 2008 16,000 women were serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Germany, and Japan. Today it is agreed that everyone should have equal opportunity in succeeding in the military and though not all women meet those qualifications, the opportunity is present.