FORT LEE, Va. - History came alive Oct. 23, as the U.S. Army Women's Museum participated in a documentary highlighting the service of women in the armed forces.
The production is called "Unsung Heroes -- The Story of America's Female Patriots," and focuses on the accomplishments and advancements women from all branches of service have made throughout American history. It is produced by Academy Award winner Ron Howard and written and directed by Emmy winner Frank Martin.
Francoise Bonnell, U.S. Army Women's Museum director, provides a historic overview and references to use as the backdrop for the production. She shares stories and personal accounts of female servicemembers from the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One of the accounts Bonnell highlights is the awarding of the Medal of Honor to Mary Edwards Walker. She was a doctor during the Civil War, who was an alleged spy and captured as a prisoner of war. To this date, she is the only woman to ever be awarded the nation's highest military honor.
Staff Sgts. Jessica Cobble and Guadalupe Alexander, Soldiers assigned to the Combined Arms Support Command, were also interviewed. The two recounted personal stories of what life was like being deployed in a combat environment, as both served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cobble was assigned as a mortuary affairs collection point noncommissioned officer during her deployments. Alexander was attached to an infantry unit in Iraq and provided automated logistics support in both theaters.
Stories such as those of Walker, Cobble and Alexander, will fill this two-hour documentary special. It will air on the Public Broadcasting Service next year.
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