Here are some women in the military that deserve our admiration!

U.S. Army General Sherian Grace Cadoria (1943- ) 
     It's a long way from the cotton fields of Marksville, Louisiana to the Pentagon, but that's a trip Sherian Grace Cadoria knows all about. When Sherian retired from the Army after 29 years, she held the rank of general and was the highest-ranking black woman in the armed forces. Her career was studded with military firsts. She was the first woman to command an all-male battalion and the first to lead a criminal investigation brigade. Sherian was also the first black woman director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and she was the first woman admitted to elite Army schools, the Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. Sherian's climb to the top tier of the military hierarchy was not easy since she had to fight a double dose of prejudice, but she says that she has "gotten more pressure from being a woman in a man's world than from being black." After her retirement, Sherian began a new career as a professional speaker and consultant. In 1995, she was named Woman of the Year by the Business and Professional Women national organization. Sherian was born on January 26, 1943. 

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World War II Army Nurse Aleda E. Lutz (1915-1944) 
     More than 400 military women died during World War II, and Aleda E. Lutz was the first one to lose her life in a combat zone. Aleda was a First Lieutenant Army Flight Nurse. In all, she flew an astounding 196 missions, evacuating wounded soldiers and caring for them on the flights back to medical facilities behind the combat lines. During her 196th mission, in an evacuation effort over Lyon, Italy, Aleda's plane went down. She was only 29 years old. On December 28, 1944, she was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Aleda has also been inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in recognition of her courage and sacrifice. In addition, the Veterans' Affairs Medical Center in Saginaw, Michigan, is named in her honor. It is the only VA Medical Center named for a female veteran.

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