The untold story of black women in the Gulf War

FOR Black women warriors, the war also brought intensely personal heartaches. For many, the substantial stress and lengthy separations wreaked havoc on marriages and relationships. "I was wondering what is he doing at home? Is he messing around? And he wuld ask me the same thing," confides Senior Airman Collier. Happily, Collier's marriage was not a casualty of the war. "When we finally did get back together, we appreciated each other so much more," she says.

Many other Black women soliders, however, weren't so lucky. Under the strain of separation, numerous marriages disintegrated like Scuds hit by a Patriot. "The relationships that were kind of shaky before we deployed fell apart altogether and a few of the stable ones fell apart as well," says Capt. Mosley. Statistics seem to bear Mosley out. This summer, for example, court officials in Clarksville, Tenn., near Fort Campbell, Ky., reported the number of divorce cases there had reached a record high. "You've got to attribute it to this Persian Gulf crisis--the separation and stress of being away from your wife or husband," Tennessee lawyer Kevin Kennedy has said.

Still, while many relationships ended in the Gulf, Black women soldiers report many were also begun. "There were several romances started," says Sgt. Brown, though they were usually not, she says, with male tentmates. "They were very protective of us," says Brown of her eight male tentmates. "When we wanted to date people from other battalions, they were like 'No, No, No! Not him.' They became like big brothers."

But even without the romance factor, didn't coed tents generate a host of problems? "At first I was a little skeptical," Brown says. "But the guys gave me time to adjust . . . we talked about everything from religion to sex. You'd be surprised. In living with eight men everyday you learn a lot."

Clearly, this war changed a lot of minds--and myths--about the role of women in the military. By the formal cease fire on April 11, Black women soldiers had made an indispensable difference. They'd shot down Scuds, escorted convoys, endured enemy fire. And died for their country.

And while the sacrifices Black women soldiers made in the Gulf were enormous, they were also ennobling. As Congress debates the military's exclusion laws that bar women from combat, many believe Black women in the Gulf served with such courage, skill and distinction, they have forever demolished the myth that women have neither the physical ability nor the emotional strength for combat.

"I feel we have proven without a doubt that we can . . . accomplish any mission given in combat," says Capt. Mosley. Lt. Jeter agrees. "If you're a woman, whatever you're doing, believe in yourself because there are a lot of people out thre who don't care about you or what you're doing," she says. But it is 1st Lt. Carla Reed, 25, who put it most directly: "No matter how significant or insignificant our contributions were, they couldn't have done it without us."

COPYRIGHT 1991 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group