Throughout history, women have been fighters

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The Associated Press
Women have long been involved in combat operations, as evidenced by this print showing a woman loading an artillery piece at the Niagara frontier during the War of 1812.
The January declaration by former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta allowing women in combat has caused great excitement and controversy. However, many people, including myself, wonder why this announcement has taken this long.

Women have been involved in war dating back to ancient times. Unfortunately, many ancient female warriors' stories have been lost over the centuries.

One story that has survived is about a woman by the name of Boudica. Her husband, ruler of a kingdom under the Roman Empire, left everything in his land to his wife and daughters. His will was not recognized after his death, and his land was seized.

However, Boudica and her daughters fought with her kingdom's citizens to regain their land, but in the end she committed suicide rather than being captured. This story ends tragically, but it is early evidence of women fighting for what is right. And that was way back in 60 AD.

Since Boudica's time, we have seen many influential female figures during wartime. There's Joan of Arc, for instance. Being a French female warrior in the medieval era, she helped bring the French king back to his rightful throne during the Hundred Years War.

The American perspective of women's roles in wars started to develop during the American Revolution. Many women joined the Army disguised as men before the 20th century. If the most audacious and chivalrous of women weren't "dressed to impress," a few provided their help as nurses on the battlefield.

The famous Molly Pitcher provided soldiers with water, earning her the nickname "Pitcher" (her real name being Molly McCauley). Once her husband fell to a shot in the arm, she raced to his side and took his position loading a cannon and shooting with great precision at the British troops.

During the Civil War, women took even bigger roles regardless of their location or skin color. Harriet Tubman, for instance, led large groups of slaves to the North, showing incredible courage considering she herself was a slave.

White women of the Civil War organized volunteer brigades that collected food, clothes and other necessities for the men at war. Other women, including famous writer Louisa May Alcott, became nurses on the battlefield, dragging ill and injured soldiers off the field.

In World War I, women were nurses and provided necessities for the soldiers much like in the Civil War; however, this was the first time women served overseas. Women were allowed to enlist in the Navy and Marine Corps, and some were even in the Coast Guard. However, the Army refused to enlist them, treating them only as volunteers and contract employees.

In World War II, new opportunities to serve the country opened up to women with the institution of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942. Women took on assembly line jobs to assist the war effort, inspiring the term Rosie the Riveter.

Ever since then, the United States has been taking baby steps toward opening the same doors to women as they do men. Women have had a huge influence in times of war and have earned their right to serve in combat. Women have been put down for their lack of strength or courage; however, what women lack in physical strength, they make up for in heart and mind.

As Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, an Army National Guard helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs when she served in Iraq, states: "We have an all-volunteer force. That means that 100 percent of the people who serve in our military want to be there, have volunteered to be there and, when you open up a whole new talent pool of potential people to serve in these positions, you've now opened up a lot more potential for some of the highest achieving people to serve."

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