It’s My Country Too: Women’s Military Stories from the American Revolution to Afghanistan by Tracy Crow and Jerry Bell

Let me start by saying that this book isn’t about whether or not you agree if women should be in the armed forces or in combat positions. This book is about the women who have served. This is a collection of their stories and it is told by these women. What Crow and Bell did with It’s My Country Too is collect the stories of many of the women who have served throughout the history of the United States. They used the words of these women, whether it was letters home, blog post, interviews, articles and essays written for this book, to tell each individual story. Each story highlighted a different aspect of life in the armed forces as a woman. The stories spoke to each woman’s individual choice, stress, pressure and career. The stories differ vastly because each woman has had a different experience, but each made the decision to serve.

One of things that I appreciate about this book is how it is formatted. Told in chronological order, there is an introduction to each era/war which allows the reader to understand the political nature of each war and the political nature of women serving during that time. What would follow is a short introduction to the woman being discussed and then each individual story. There was a wide range of experience, age and nationality, which I also really appreciated. I was intrigued by the stories. Each was enlightening in its own way. I found the collection of the stories as a whole to be worth reading. It’s important to understand and really grasp the fact that women have always played a role in the armed forces. They have put aside the determined “normal” for women, to take part in something bigger. If nothing else this collection shows how invested women have been for hundreds of years in serving in the United States.