Women in Military ServiceBy Edward Barlow, Section War and Peace
Today, as always, women have served honorably and notably in many roles throughout US military history. However, the only woman ever to be awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor was Dr. Mary Edward Walker.
As an army doctor during the Civil War, she heroically saved many lives during combat. She served in the Battles of Bull Run, Chickamauga, and Atlanta. She was captured tending the wounded behind enemy lines and spent time as a POW.
Gen. Sherman nominated her and President Andrew Johnson awarded her the Medal of Honor. For many years after, she was an outspoken, aggressive, and tireless women's rights advocate and suffragette. In 1917, the U.S. Army revoked her Medal of Honor. She refused to return the medal, and wore it until her death two years later at age 87. On occasion she was harassed, threatened with arrest, fines, and jail time as a "Medal of Honor impersonator". In 1977 an apologetic President Jimmy Carter posthumously "restored" the Medal of Honor to Dr Walker. The U.S. Army re-recognized Dr. Walker's "distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice, patriotism, dedication, and unflinching loyalty to her country, despite the apparent discrimination because of her sex." In 1982, the US Postal Service issued a 20-cent postage stamp honoring her as the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor. Her Medal of Honor is now proudly on display in the Pentagon.
The United States has been engaged in many wars and covert actions throughout the years; and now it looks like we are going to be perpetually at war. Will another woman ever be awarded the Medal of Honor again?
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