Meet the women fighting on the front lines of an American war
-
0:01 - 0:04Every group of female friends
has the funny one, -
0:04 - 0:07the one you go to
when you need a good cry, -
0:07 - 0:10the one who tells you to suck it up
when you've had a hard day. -
0:11 - 0:13And this group was no different.
-
0:14 - 0:17Except that this was a community
of groundbreaking women -
0:17 - 0:18who came together --
-
0:18 - 0:22first to become teammates,
then friends, and then family -- -
0:22 - 0:25in the least likely of places:
-
0:25 - 0:27on the Special Operations battlefield.
-
0:28 - 0:31This was a group of women
whose friendship and valor was cemented -
0:31 - 0:35not only by what they had seen
and done at the tip of the spear, -
0:36 - 0:37but by the fact that they were there
-
0:38 - 0:40at a time when women --
officially, at least -- -
0:40 - 0:43remained banned from ground combat,
-
0:43 - 0:46and America had no idea they existed.
-
0:48 - 0:50This story begins
with Special Operations leaders, -
0:50 - 0:54some of the most tested men
in the United States military, saying, -
0:54 - 0:57"We need women to help us wage this war."
-
0:58 - 1:02"America would never kill its way
to the end of its wars," it argued. -
1:02 - 1:04"Needed more knowledge
and more understanding." -
1:05 - 1:06And as everyone knows,
-
1:06 - 1:10if you want to understand what's happening
in a community and in a home, -
1:10 - 1:11you talk to women,
-
1:11 - 1:14whether you're talking about
Southern Afghanistan, -
1:14 - 1:16or Southern California.
-
1:17 - 1:19But in this case,
men could not talk to women, -
1:19 - 1:23because in a conservative
and traditional society like Afghanistan, -
1:23 - 1:25that would cause grave offense.
-
1:25 - 1:27So you needed women soldiers out there.
-
1:29 - 1:33That meant, at this time in the war,
that the women who would be recruited -
1:33 - 1:36to serve alongside Army Rangers
and Navy SEALs, -
1:36 - 1:40would be seeing the kind of combat
experienced by less than five percent -
1:40 - 1:43of the entire United States military.
-
1:44 - 1:45Less than five percent.
-
1:47 - 1:48So the call went out.
-
1:48 - 1:51"Female soldiers:
Become a part of history. -
1:51 - 1:55Join Special Operations
on the battlefield in Afghanistan." -
1:55 - 1:57This is in 2011.
-
1:57 - 1:59And from Alabama to Alaska,
-
1:59 - 2:03a group of women who had always
wanted to do something that mattered -
2:03 - 2:05alongside the best of the best,
-
2:05 - 2:07and to make a difference
for their country, -
2:07 - 2:09answered that call to serve.
-
2:10 - 2:16And for them it was not about politics,
it was about serving with purpose. -
2:17 - 2:19And so, the women who came
to North Carolina -
2:19 - 2:22to compete for a spot on these teams
-
2:22 - 2:25which would put women
on the Special Operations front lines, -
2:25 - 2:29landed and found
very quickly a community, -
2:29 - 2:31the likes of which they had never seen.
-
2:31 - 2:35Full of women who were as fierce
and as fit as they were, -
2:35 - 2:37and as driven to make a difference.
-
2:37 - 2:40They didn't have to apologize
for who they were, -
2:40 - 2:42and in fact, they could celebrate it.
-
2:43 - 2:47And what they found when they were there
was that all of a sudden, -
2:47 - 2:49there were lots of people like them.
-
2:50 - 2:51As one of them said,
-
2:51 - 2:53"It was like you looked
around and realized -
2:53 - 2:55there was more
than one giraffe at the zoo." -
2:57 - 3:00Among this team of standouts was Cassie,
-
3:00 - 3:04a young woman who managed to be
an ROTC cadet, a sorority sister -
3:04 - 3:07and a Women's Studies minor,
all in one person. -
3:08 - 3:13Tristan, a West Point track star,
who always ran and road marched -
3:13 - 3:14with no socks,
-
3:14 - 3:16and had shoes whose smell proved it.
-
3:16 - 3:18(Laughter)
-
3:18 - 3:22Amber, a Heidi look-alike, who had
always wanted to be in the infantry, -
3:22 - 3:24and when she found out
that women couldn't be, -
3:24 - 3:27she decided to become an intel officer.
-
3:28 - 3:29She served in Bosnia,
-
3:29 - 3:32and later helped the FBI
to bust drug gangs in Pennsylvania. -
3:33 - 3:36And then there was Kate,
who played high school football -
3:36 - 3:38all four years,
-
3:38 - 3:40and actually wanted to drop out
after the first, -
3:40 - 3:42to go into the glee club,
-
3:42 - 3:45but when boys told her
that girls couldn't play football, -
3:45 - 3:46she decided to stay
-
3:46 - 3:49for all the little girls
who would come after her. -
3:50 - 3:53For them, biology had shaped
part of their destiny, -
3:53 - 3:55and put, as Cassie once said,
-
3:55 - 3:58"everything noble
out of reach for girls." -
3:58 - 4:02And yet, here was a chance
to serve with the best of the best -
4:02 - 4:04on a mission that mattered
to their country, -
4:04 - 4:06not despite the fact
that they were female, -
4:06 - 4:08but because of it.
-
4:09 - 4:13This team of women, in many ways,
was like women everywhere. -
4:13 - 4:14They wore makeup, and in fact,
-
4:14 - 4:18they would bond in the ladies' room
over eyeliner and eye pencil. -
4:19 - 4:20They also wore body armor.
-
4:21 - 4:23They would put 50 pounds
of weight on their backs, -
4:23 - 4:25and board the helicopter for an operation,
-
4:25 - 4:28and they would come back and watch
a movie called "Bridesmaids." -
4:28 - 4:30(Laughter)
-
4:30 - 4:33They even wore a thing called Spanx,
-
4:33 - 4:35because, as they found very quickly,
-
4:35 - 4:39the uniforms made for men were
big where they should be small, -
4:39 - 4:41and small where they should be big.
-
4:41 - 4:44So Lane, an Iraq War veteran --
you see her here on my left -- -
4:44 - 4:46decided she was going to go on Amazon
-
4:46 - 4:48and order a pair of Spanx to her base,
-
4:48 - 4:52so that her pants would fit better
when she went out on mission each night. -
4:53 - 4:55These women would get together
over video conference -
4:55 - 4:58from all around Afghanistan
from their various bases, -
4:58 - 5:00and they would talk about what it was like
-
5:00 - 5:02to be one of the only women
doing what they were doing. -
5:02 - 5:04They would swap jokes,
-
5:04 - 5:06they would talk about
what was working, what wasn't, -
5:06 - 5:09what they had learned to do well,
what they needed to do better. -
5:09 - 5:13And they would talk about
some of the lighter moments of being women -
5:13 - 5:15out on the Special Operations front lines,
-
5:15 - 5:17including the Shewee,
-
5:17 - 5:19which was a tool
that let you pee like a guy, -
5:19 - 5:23although it's said to have had only
a 40 percent accuracy rate out there. -
5:23 - 5:26(Laughter)
-
5:26 - 5:28These women lived in the "and."
-
5:29 - 5:32They proved you could be fierce
and you could be feminine. -
5:32 - 5:35You could wear mascara and body armor.
-
5:35 - 5:39You could love CrossFit,
and really like cross-stitch. -
5:39 - 5:44You could love to climb out of helicopters
and you could also love to bake cookies. -
5:45 - 5:48Women live in the and every single day,
-
5:48 - 5:51and these women brought that
to this mission as well. -
5:53 - 5:55On this life and death battlefield
they never forgot -
5:55 - 5:59that being female may have brought them
to the front lines, -
5:59 - 6:01but being a soldier is what would
prove themselves there. -
6:02 - 6:04There was the night Amber went
out on mission, -
6:04 - 6:06and in talking to the women of the house,
-
6:06 - 6:09realized that there was
a barricaded shooter lying in wait -
6:09 - 6:13for the Afghan and American forces
who were waiting to enter the home. -
6:13 - 6:16Another night it was Tristan
who found out -
6:16 - 6:18that there were pieces
that make up explosives -
6:18 - 6:21all around the house
in which they were standing, -
6:21 - 6:24and that in fact, explosives lay
all the way between there -
6:24 - 6:26and where they were
about to head that night. -
6:26 - 6:29There was the night another one
of their teammates proved herself -
6:29 - 6:32to a decidedly skeptical team of SEALs,
-
6:32 - 6:34when she found the intel item
they were looking for -
6:34 - 6:36wrapped up in a baby's wet diaper.
-
6:37 - 6:41And there was the night that Isabel,
another one of their teammates, -
6:41 - 6:43found the things
that they were looking for, -
6:43 - 6:45and received an Impact Award
from the Rangers -
6:45 - 6:47who said that without her,
-
6:47 - 6:49the things and the people
they were looking for that night -
6:49 - 6:51would never have been found.
-
6:52 - 6:53That night and so many others,
-
6:53 - 6:57they went out to prove themselves,
not only for one another, -
6:57 - 6:59but for everybody
who would come after them. -
7:00 - 7:02And also for the men
alongside whom they served. -
7:03 - 7:08We talk a lot about how
behind every great man is a good woman. -
7:08 - 7:10And in this case,
-
7:10 - 7:13next to these women stood men
who wanted to see them succeed. -
7:14 - 7:17The Army Ranger who trained them
had served 12 deployments. -
7:17 - 7:20And when they told him
that he had to go train girls, -
7:20 - 7:23he had no idea what to expect.
-
7:23 - 7:28But at the end of eight days with these
women in the summer of 2011, -
7:28 - 7:32he told his fellow Ranger,
"We have just witnessed history. -
7:32 - 7:35These may well be
our own Tuskegee Airmen." -
7:38 - 7:44(Applause)
-
7:44 - 7:47At the heart of this team
was the one person -
7:47 - 7:49who everyone called "the best of us."
-
7:50 - 7:52She was a petite blonde dynamo,
-
7:52 - 7:54who barely reached five-foot-three.
-
7:55 - 7:58And she was this wild mix
of Martha Stewart, -
7:58 - 8:00and what we know as G.I. Jane.
-
8:01 - 8:03She was someone who loved
to make dinner for her husband, -
8:04 - 8:08her Kent State ROTC sweetheart
who pushed her to be her best, -
8:08 - 8:09and to trust herself,
-
8:09 - 8:11and to test every limit she could.
-
8:12 - 8:16She also loved to put 50 pounds of weight
on her back and run for miles, -
8:16 - 8:18and she loved to be a soldier.
-
8:19 - 8:22She was somebody who had a bread maker
in her office in Kandahar, -
8:22 - 8:25and would bake a batch of raisin bread,
and then go to the gym -
8:25 - 8:28and bust out 25 or 30 pull-ups
from a dead hang. -
8:29 - 8:32She was the person who, if you needed
an extra pair of boots -
8:32 - 8:35or a home-cooked dinner,
would be on your speed dial. -
8:35 - 8:38Because she never, ever would talk to you
-
8:38 - 8:39about how good she was,
-
8:39 - 8:41but let her character speak
through action. -
8:42 - 8:48She was famous for taking the hard right
over the easy wrong. -
8:48 - 8:52And she was also famous
for walking up to a 15-foot rope, -
8:52 - 8:54climbing it using only her arms,
-
8:54 - 8:56and then shuffling away and apologizing,
-
8:56 - 9:00because she knew she was supposed
to use both her arms and her legs, -
9:00 - 9:01as the Rangers had trained them.
-
9:01 - 9:03(Laughter)
-
9:03 - 9:06Some of our heroes return home
to tell their stories. -
9:07 - 9:09And some of them don't.
-
9:10 - 9:13And on October 22, 2011,
-
9:13 - 9:16First Lieutenant Ashley White was killed
alongside two Rangers, -
9:16 - 9:17Christopher Horns
-
9:17 - 9:19and Kristoffer Domeij.
-
9:20 - 9:23Her death threw this program built
for the shadows -
9:23 - 9:25into a very public spotlight.
-
9:25 - 9:26Because after all,
-
9:26 - 9:30the ban on women in combat
was still very much in place. -
9:31 - 9:32And at her funeral,
-
9:32 - 9:37the head of Army Special Operations came,
and gave a public testimony -
9:37 - 9:39not just to the courage of Ashley White,
-
9:39 - 9:41but to all her team of sisters.
-
9:42 - 9:46"Make no mistake about it," he said,
"these women are warriors, -
9:46 - 9:50and they have written a new chapter
in what it means to be a female -
9:50 - 9:51in the United States Army."
-
9:53 - 9:57Ashley's mom is a teacher's aide
and a school bus driver, -
9:57 - 9:59who bakes cookies on the side.
-
9:59 - 10:03She doesn't remember much
about that overwhelming set of days, -
10:03 - 10:05in which grief -- enormous grief --
-
10:05 - 10:07mixed with pride.
-
10:07 - 10:09But she does remember one moment.
-
10:10 - 10:13A stranger with a child
in her hand came up to her -
10:13 - 10:16and she said, "Mrs. White,
-
10:16 - 10:18I brought my daughter here today,
-
10:18 - 10:21because I wanted her to know
what a hero was. -
10:22 - 10:27And I wanted her to know
that heroes could be women, too." -
10:28 - 10:31It is time to celebrate
all the unsung heroines -
10:31 - 10:33who reach into their guts
-
10:33 - 10:37and find the heart and the grit
to keep going and to test every limit. -
10:38 - 10:44This very unlikely band of sisters
bound forever in life and afterward -
10:44 - 10:46did indeed become part of history,
-
10:46 - 10:49and they paved the way for so many
who would come after them, -
10:49 - 10:54as much as they stood on the shoulders
of those who had come before. -
10:54 - 10:58These women showed that warriors come
in all shapes and sizes. -
10:59 - 11:02And women can be heroes, too.
-
11:03 - 11:04Thank you so much.
-
11:04 - 11:10(Applause)
- Title:
- Meet the women fighting on the front lines of an American war
- Speaker:
- Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
- Description:
-
In 2011, the US Armed Forces still had a ban on women in combat — but in that year, a Special Operations team of women was sent to Afghanistan to serve on the front lines, to build rapport with locals and try to help bring an end to the war. Reporter Gayle Tzemach Lemmon tells the story of this "band of sisters," an extraordinary group of women warriors who broke a long-standing barrier to serve.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:25
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Meet the first women to fight on the front lines of an American war | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Meet the first women to fight on the front lines of an American war | ||
Morton Bast approved English subtitles for Meet the first women to fight on the front lines of an American war | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Meet the first women to fight on the front lines of an American war | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Meet the first women to fight on the front lines of an American war | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Meet the first women to fight on the front lines of an American war | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Meet the first women to fight on the front lines of an American war | ||
Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Meet the first women to fight on the front lines of an American war |