In Remembrance of Women Who Served
by
by
3 min readWe honor 11 American servicewomen who gave their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll. Since 2001, more than 6,700 American men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have died. Though the war in Iraq officially ended in 2011, the conflict in Afghanistan lingers and casualties continue to be counted.
For the first time in United States history, women are (officially) fighting side by side with men. As more women enlist and serve, more women will sacrifice their lives for their country. Today we’re highlighting just a few of the many American women who have lost their lives while serving overseas.
“I had the HONOR to work with 1st LT Schulte.When the news came in that she was gone everyone that knew her had not only lost the best Officer on post but also lost their best friend,” writes SPC John Barnett. 1st Lt. Roslyn Littmann Schulte died May 20, 2009, while serving as an USAF Intelligence Officer in Afghanistan. A native of St. Louis, she later attended the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she captained the lacrosse team. She became the first female graduate of the Air Force Academy to be killed in action. She was 25.
Bosveld enlisted in the Army when she graduated from high school in June 2002, following in the footsteps of her father and brother. Her mother said she desperately tried to talk her daughter out of it. “She said, ‘I know, Mom, but I have to do this ... I want to keep up the family tradition.’” Mary Bosveld said. Bosveld, 19, of Waupun, Wisconsin, died Oct. 26 in an attack at a police station near Baghdad. She was stationed with the military police in Germany. When she first got to Iraq, she was ready to “kick butt,” said her father, Marvin Bosveld. But after eight months in the sands of Iraq, barely surviving a roadside ambush and patrolling anti-American riots, she had had enough. “More and more people want us to go home,” she wrote to her father. “Believe me, we want to go home.” Marvin Bosveld and his former wife, Mary, were foster parents to Rachel who came to them as a neglected baby. The couple adopted her. Craig Bosveld described his sister as an artist who loved to draw forest scenes, play her violin and act in her high school drama club. She hoped one day to become a graphic artist.
Originally published May 14, 2009. Some content via the Associated Press.
TAGS
