52 year old female soldier dies in Afghanistan-oldest to die in combat

[n2doc]

She was 52 when Afghan bomb struck
Merideth Howard, the oldest known woman to die in combat, was behind the gun of a Humvee

By Kim Barker and James Janega, Tribune staff reporters. Kim Barker reported from Mehtarlam and James Janega from Waukesha
Published September 24, 2006

MEHTARLAM, Afghanistan -- The older soldiers called themselves the Gray Brigade, but Sgt. 1st Class Merideth Howard never talked about her age. Soon, no one asked. In training, the Waukesha, Wis., resident ran as hard as men much younger. She became a gunner on a Humvee at this small military base, building a wooden box to stand on so she could see over the turret. Her last night here, Howard and Staff Sgt. Robert Paul sat on the back stoop of their barracks with the base cook, as usual. "We started talking about the time she got shot at," said Air Force Tech. Sgt. Marlin McDaniel, 42, the cook. "I said I'd probably duck. I wouldn't know what to do. But they both basically said at the same time, `When it's your time to go, it's your time to go.'" The next day, Howard and Paul made a supply run to a U.S. military base near the Afghan capital. They never made it back, dying in a fiery suicide bombing in Kabul on Sept. 8.

At 52, Howard, who had gray hair and an infectious smile, became the oldest known American woman to die in combat.

The fact that she was even here, serving as a gunner on a Humvee, shows the drain that two wars have put on an all-volunteer military. She was the new face of the military's civil affairs units, which do reconstruction and relief work. Constant deployments have tapped out the regular Army Reservists who most often filled those jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Howard never had been deployed before, not since joining the Reserves on a whim in 1988. After her medical unit was disbanded in 1996, she was assigned to the Individual Ready Reserves, for soldiers without a unit. She still went to monthly drills but mainly handled paperwork, biding her time, putting in her 20 years before earning retirement benefits. But as a stopgap--and in a first for the U.S. military--provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan were being filled by a mix of Navy, Air Force, Army, National Guard and Reserve soldiers. And many in the Reserves were like Howard, in the Individual Ready Reserves, home also to retired soldiers who had recently left the Army. A few regular reservists, such as Paul, volunteered for civil affairs. The rest, such as Howard, were called up last December.

"We were a little surprised," said Master Sgt. Robyn Fees, 50, who became a close friend of Howard's after the two were called up. "We didn't even know what `civil affairs' was, to be honest with you."

Howard was a no-frills woman, more comfortable pounding a hammer than wearing a dress, those who served with her said. In Afghanistan, she often visited the base area known as Home Depot, where the wood was stored, and built herself a rudimentary armoire and a side table. Her hammer still sits in her room on base. An unfinished picture frame, made from Afghan carved wood she bought at a local bazaar, waits on her desk.

more:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0609240356sep24,1,5127866.story?coll=chi-news-hed

[Lithos]

1. Another wasted life

While I fully applaud the work she was doing, anything she was doing was like trying to use a pail to bail out the water on the Titanic thanks to Bush's policies.

[partylessinOhio]

2. What was she doing there? This is insanity.

There is no glamor in war. What the hell is the worth of an equal right to die blown to smithereens? What?

[Imagevision]

3. Constant deployments have tapped out the regular Army Reservists

[bluerum]

4. Rotten corrupt soulless bastards will send us all off to die so that

their "base" will be enriched by the war.

Why do good people go to die for the vanity of the corrupt?

[rodeodance]

5. nice tribute for her. we should all read. REC.

[kestrel91316]

8. I don't want tributes to dead nice people. I want living nice people.

I'm not attacking you personally. I'm just so sick of the WASTE of human life, caused by that POS waste of air some people call a president.

[judaspriestess]

6. RIP

this just sucks!!

[rodeodance]

7. Jane, We Hardly Knew Ye Died (65 Women troops killed in Iraq/Afgan)

i posted this Editorials ealier

Jane, We Hardly Knew Ye Died (65 Women troops killed in Iraq/Afgan)




http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/weekinreview/24alvare...


Jane, We Hardly Knew Ye Died
Thuss Farrell

THE FALLEN Sixty-five American female soldiers have died in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Published: September 24, 2006

LT. EMILY J. T. PEREZ, 23, a West Point graduate who outran many men, directed a gospel choir and read the Bible every day, was at the head of a weekly convoy as it rolled down roads pocked with bombs and bullets near Najaf. As platoon leader, she insisted on leading her troops from the front.
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The Fallen

Profiles of the 65 American female soldiers who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan.
2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006



CUT SHORT Lt. Emily J. T. Perez.

Two weeks ago, one of those bombs tripped her up, detonating near her Humvee in Kifl, south of Baghdad. She died Sept. 12, the 64th woman from the United States military to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. Eight died in Vietnam.

Despite longstanding predictions that America would shudder to see its women coming home in coffins, Lieutenant Perez’s death, and those of the other women, the majority of whom died from hostile fire (the 65th died in a Baghdad car bombing a day later), have stirred no less — and no more — reaction at home than the nearly 2,900 male dead. The same can be said of the hundreds of wounded women.

There is no shortage of guesses as to why: Americans are no longer especially shocked by the idea of a woman’s violent death. Most don’t know how many women have fallen, or under what circumstances. Photographs of body bags and coffins are rarely seen. And nobody wants to kick up a fuss and risk insulting grieving families.

“The public doesn’t seem concerned they are dying,” said Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University who has closely studied national service. “They would rather have someone else's daughter die than their son.”.........