Ten nursing Soldiers at Fort Bliss, Texas, created a stir across the media this week when a photo of the ACUs-clad moms holding their children to their discreetly covered breasts appeared as a trending news story on Facebook.

The photo since has appeared on websites for Time magazine, USA Today and CNN, among others.

Comments have run a predictable gamut.

Some viewers found the photo disgusting: "If a soldier has a baby, she should be discharged from service, end of story. … If you make the decision to be a Soldier, then make the decision not to get pregnant."

Others found it beautiful: "These women are in their work clothes, just the same as a police officer or a nurse. They should not be forced to change clothes just to feed their babies."

Perhaps predictably, many of the negative comments seemed to come from men.

I found the photo lovely. I nursed all five of my children -- including my son, now a Soldier posted at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I saw the photo as a sign of societal progress, and the Army -- again -- leading the way.

Back in the late Seventies and Eighties, when I had my children, no one had rooms to allow moms privacy while they pumped breast milk -- certainly not military posts. They didn't even have changing tables in rest rooms, or sanitary places to nurse outside the home. (Except for one notable exception -- Disney World.)

I lost my job when I became pregnant with my first child, finding one again when she was only a few weeks old. I rushed to wean her -- there was nowhere at my new job where I could express my milk, and I certainly couldn't take her to work with me.

When I had my second child, I pumped in a small changing room adjoining the photo lab of the newspaper at which I worked. So great was my discomfort and the possibility of being interrupted that I soon gave up the effort and, again, weaned early.

I nursed my next three children only during my eight-week maternity leaves, weaning them well before I wanted to.

Obviously, the Soldiers in the photo are making a point about supporting nursing mothers by allowing them to express milk at work. None takes her child to work with her, as some people assumed when they saw the photo.

What's also interesting about the photo is that female Soldiers reported that when they had posted the photo and comments on their local military sites, their posts were removed. They vowed to post and repost the photos.

Which is exactly what photographer Tara Ruby had to do, too, after the photo was removed from her own Facebook page.

"I posted this on here last night at 11:59 p.m.," she said Monday morning. "It has since disappeared from my feed and my wall. So we are posting this here again. (She inserted a smiling emoticon.)

"Today I believe we made history. To my knowledge, a group photo to show support of active-duty military mommies nursing their little's (sic) has never been done. It is so nice to see support for this here at Fort Bliss."

Ruby said that support had come not only from the post's nursing mothers but the garrison commander, as well.

I don't know how they feel at Fort Bliss -- it has been difficult to get a response because they've been deluged -- but I think the story is good for the Army, even if everyone was gobsmacked by how big it became, and how fast.

A friend of mine said Tuesday morning -- in a noncontroversial Facebook post -- that she had felt all "squishy" since having a child and nursing her in recent months.

I imagine the Soldier moms feel that way, too. Being able to give one's body for the safety and nourishment of another is an incredible and unselfish act.

Perhaps instead of being shocked by the photo, we should see it this way: Any woman willing to give her body in such a way would keenly understand the key demand of Soldiering -- the possibility of giving her life for her children and, by extension, the greater good.

The "controversial" photo is only the most current reflection of that age-old fact.

And it's a reminder that -- as with civil rights and other issues -- the Army once again leads from the front, no matter how uncomfortable that might be.