Following the events of September 11, 2001, the theme of this year's Women's History Month--Women Sustaining the American Spirit--is especially fitting. During the month of March, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs recognizes the contributions women have made to Michigan's military history.

During the Spanish-American War, Ellen May Tower of Byron, Michigan, was the first U.S. Army nurse to die on foreign soil.

World War II saw Saginaw's Lieutenant. Aleda Lutz, a U.S. Army nurse, become the first nurse killed in action in Europe. During her 196th mission, the C-47 flying ambulance she was aboard crashed. Lutze was also the first nurse to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. Another Army nurse, Major Eleanor Garen, from Fennville, Michigan, spent three years as a prisoner-of-war at Santo Tomas Prison Camp in Japan.

Lieutenant Christine Koch, a career Marine from Detroit, was officially the last U.S. military woman to leave Vietnam.

Michigan National Guard Women

Here is a list of firsts for women in Michigan's National Guard. The list is by no means complete but represents the milestones of women's contributions to the Guard.

• 1957--Rosemary E. Charboneau: First female Air Guard officer
• 1972--Margaret Ann Miller: First enlisted Air Guard female
• 1973--Julia H. Keefer: First female Army Guard member
• 1973--Ruth A. Newman: First female Army Guard officer
• 1978--Nancy Lundberg: First female Airman of the Year, Air Guard
• 1979--Lillian M. Terry: First female warrant officer, Army Guard
• 1981--Nancy Graff: First female Group Commander, Air Guard
• 1983--Judith Dot'o: First female Senior NCO Academy graduate, Air Guard
• 1986--Nancy Graff: First female Deputy Commander, Air Guard
• 1987--Susan K. Wilkins: First female First Sergeant, Army Guard
• 1988--Brenda L. (Snyder) Lampman: First female helicopter pilot, Army Guard
• 1991--Susan K. Wilkins: First female Sergeant Major, Army Guard
• 1993--Christina Greiger: First female airplane pilot, Air Guard
• 1995--Mandi A. Murray: First female battalion commander, Army Guard
• 1996--Betty L. Foehl: First female Colonel, Army Guard
• 2001--Carol Ann Fausone: First female Brigadier General select, Air Guard
• 2002--Rhea R. Pruett: First female Command Chief Warrant Officer in the nation, Army Guard

Related Sites:

> Department of Defense Women's History Month