Reply #7: Jane, We Hardly Knew Ye Died (65 Women troops killed in Iraq/Afgan) [View All]

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Jane, We Hardly Knew Ye Died (65 Women troops killed in Iraq/Afgan)




http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/weekinreview/24alvare...


Jane, We Hardly Knew Ye Died
Thuss Farrell

THE FALLEN Sixty-five American female soldiers have died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Published: September 24, 2006

LT. EMILY J. T. PEREZ, 23, a West Point graduate who outran many men, directed a gospel choir and read the Bible every day, was at the head of a weekly convoy as it rolled down roads pocked with bombs and bullets near Najaf. As platoon leader, she insisted on leading her troops from the front.
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The Fallen

Profiles of the 65 American female soldiers who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan.
2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006



CUT SHORT Lt. Emily J. T. Perez.

Two weeks ago, one of those bombs tripped her up, detonating near her Humvee in Kifl, south of Baghdad. She died Sept. 12, the 64th woman from the United States military to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Eight died in Vietnam.

Despite longstanding predictions that America would shudder to see its women coming home in coffins, Lieutenant Perez’s death, and those of the other women, the majority of whom died from hostile fire (the 65th died in a Baghdad car bombing a day later), have stirred no less — and no more — reaction at home than the nearly 2,900 male dead. The same can be said of the hundreds of wounded women.

There is no shortage of guesses as to why: Americans are no longer especially shocked by the idea of a woman’s violent death. Most don’t know how many women have fallen, or under what circumstances. Photographs of body bags and coffins are rarely seen. And nobody wants to kick up a fuss and risk insulting grieving families.

“The public doesn’t seem concerned they are dying,” said Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University who has closely studied national service. “They would rather have someone else's daughter die than their son.”.........