Control your life

The Pentagon says women can’t fight on the front lines of war, a policy that has long been hard to swallow for female soldiers. As a former prisoner of war in Iraq, I can tell you that I fought. I fired my weapon. I got swarmed by the enemy, kicked in the head and gut, and taken prisoner. So did Jessica Lynch and Lori Ann Piestewa, two fellow female soldiers in my unit. Lori gave her life.

Recently the Pentagon proposed easing its restrictions on women in combat, allowing women to serve in non-infantry battalion jobs, such as tank mechanics and radio operators—but still not on the front lines. Of course, we already are on the front lines. There are no clearly defined lines of combat anymore. I was a cook in the Army; Jessica and Lori were supply clerks. We got caught in a deadly ambush at the start of the war in Iraq. That’s the front line.

In the past few weeks, there’s been a lot of attention focused on the policy change for women in combat, including at this week’s presidential