Ladies, It's Your War, Too!

I have said that it takes balls to be a woman.  One of the things I've learned is that as a woman--especially one who lived as a man and boy--I have to fight for some of the things men take for granted.

I've also learned that while we can do the same things men can, we can't (and shouldn't) always do them in the same ways.  And, as more than one woman who has balanced a career and a family has said, "You can have it all; you just can't have it all at the same time."

But I digress.  It may be hard for young people to believe now, but at one time, people (including many women themselves) believed that women had no place-- except to care for the wounded or, perhaps, to cook-- in any military organization.

During World War II, some military commanders--however reluctantly--began to change their thinking.  The need for manpower, I mean personnel, was so great that men could no longer do everything.  And, as at least one commander noted, there are many jobs women can do as well as, or even better than, a man can.

Although Hitler is gone and Europeans enjoy most (some would say more) of the same freedoms our soldiers fought for, there is still a war.  And, yes, ladies, it's your--I mean our--war, even if we aren't wearing those uniforms!