Product Description

In Iraq, the front line is everywhere...and everywhere in Iraq, women in the U.S. military fight. More than 155,000 of them have served in Iraq since 2003--four times the number of women sent to Desert Storm in 1991--and more than 430 have been wounded and over 70 killed, almost twice the number of U.S. military women killed in action in Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm combined. Band of Sisters presents twelve amazing and often heart-wrenching stories of American women in the frontlines including America_s first female pilot to be shot down and survive, the U.S. military_s first black female combat pilot, a 21-year-old turret gunner defending a convoy, two military policewomen in a firefight, a nurse struggling to save lives, including her own and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #456328 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-04
• Released on: 2007-07-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From Booklist
Holmstedt started studying the experience of women marines when she lived near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Her research became a master's thesis in creative writing and the most up-to-date discussion of women in the current war. Unblushingly in favor of women in combat, she doesn't whitewash their experiences or exaggerate their achievements. Their male colleagues aren't universally accepting, but many of them admit that the women are performing effectively; since 20 percent of the troops currently in Iraq are women, they must. Following the tradition of American soldiers before them, they say that they are "just doing the job." That is, they are flying F-18s into enemy ground fire, driving Hummers and trucks that may be ambushed at any moment, and playing invaluable roles in intelligence operations and in the nation building that is one of the more positive aspects of a seemingly interminable and frustrating conflict. Nearly 500 female soldiers have been killed or wounded in Iraq. Invaluable as well as readable. Green, Roland

About the Author
Kirsten Holmstedt is a graduate of Drake University_s School of Journalism and the University of North Carolina Wilmington_s master_s of fine arts program in creative non-fiction writing. Ms. Holmstedt has spent the past twenty years writing for newspapers, business, academia, and magazines. She has won awards for her writing at the regional and national levels. She currently resides in Jacksonville, North Carolina.