http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/spectrum.cfm?id=1212812006ALTHOUGH the idea of women fighting on the frontline might still be controversial, the right of a woman to represent her country in the armed forces is now well established. But putting equal rights to one side, the world still reacts with shock when we hear of women being killed in conflicts overseas. US servicewomen have laid down their lives in Vietnam, the Gulf and, more recently, Iraq, and every death creates headlines and heated debate.
When American Michelle Witmer, of the Wisconsin National Guard, was killed in Iraq in 2004, her sisters Rachel and Charity, who were also in the forces, chose not to return to action. There's still a feeling that the battlefield is no place for a woman. But despite this sense of unease, several generations of women have now passed through US military training. And it's a trend that shows no signs of slowing.
The first choice for almost all those with hopes of a top place in the US military is West Point, New York. The academy isn't just the pinnacle of achievement for those in the services, the "place where the Hudson River bends" also has an important place in the American psyche. When President Bush delivered the 2002 graduation speech there, he said, "The United States military academy is the guardian of values that have shaped the soldiers who have shaped the history of the world."
More recent military history has been shaped by women as well as men, since the famous academy has been accepting female recruits for the last 30 years. In 1975 President Gerald Ford signed legislation allowing women to apply to all of the country's military schools, and the first classes of women entered in 1976, graduating in 1980.
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