Ten Hut!

Unite, my firends in the U.S. Military service!! We are our own family when it comes down to it. No one else will stand beside us, except our men and women in arms. Men know what women go through and put up with in the military and women know the same of men. Not a night goes by I do not worry about either. Be proud of your brothers and sisters. All of us know in our hearts what we sacrifice. The United States of America is worth more than venting here, where the news media will tear us apart. It takes all of us to make it work. Brother, Sister, I am at your side wherever we are, wherever we serve - may we stand united!!! ELSE - DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY!!! (and no sailors, that does not mean go down on one knee and hand me a $20 dollar bill - although it will offset the commissioned officers fudiciary responsibilities). : ) May we all embrace what makes us completely different and invaluable to our service. My love to us all and God's love and blessing over us all. 22 years and still going.

Much appreciation to ALL of you who serve our country. You are the true "America"s. You are not only the backbone, but the heart of our country. And, Stevens, I'm cheering for you.

THIS IS PATHETIC! A supposed male solder putting down other solders based upon thier gender. Must not have done much--clearly doesn't know much. With 93 female solders killed so far in Iraq alone and the majority of those from hostile fire--only an idiot or a poser would claim a women must be lying about her combat. The military still does not allow women in "direct" combat jobs but does allow "in-direct" combat rolls such a Military Police. One can point to stories such as PFC lynch where none combat personell ended up in combat in a war with no front or rear lines. Had you done much, Salty, you would have known that. So, uh, ahem ixney on the macho men only war stories dude. Thank so Much--AIRBORNE!!

First off: I would just like to say Jill I believe what you are doing is great and very admirable. As a female serving in the Army myself I feel as though what Jill is doing will give all the nation a new outlook on females in the Armed Forces. Not all but some have this very negative view of women in the service. When I was a young woman, fresh out of basic training, I and a very pretty female friend of mine decided to go out on the town for a fun night out. Just a girls night to go out dancing and relieve job related stress. We were later approached by two men who asked the two of us what we did for a living. We explained to them that we were currently serving as soldiers in the Army. The look of shock on their faces was amazing. These two men just could not believe that there were good looking women in the Army. I feel as though society views us as masculine, tough, harsh features, even poor, and of a lower class from the rest of the female gender. I believe what Jill is doing is wonderful because she is giving the rest of the world a different perspective of our world. She is showing society that we are beautiful, soft, lady like, and feminine regardless of the harsh situations and enviroments that we get exposed to because of our jobs. It makes me so proud of her not just because of what she is doing but also because of what she has done. JILL I AM PROUD AND HONORED TO CALL YOU A BATTLE BUDDY!!! Now as for the gentlemans comment below!!! I am currently 24 years old, with 6 years in as a Military Police soldier serving in the Army. And although he is correct, there are some places that we cannot officially serve, he is still wrong about females in combat situation. I have been deployed 3 times to 3 different combat zones. And let me tell that even though I can't be infantry, I have been down in the sand with them, fighting and bleeding side by side with them. I have seen the horrible faces of war that so many men claim we women never see because of our gender. So sir, before you disgrace yourself and our service for your gender biased views maybe, just maybe, you should realize that your view may not be the entire picture. I feel proud to be a woman and to see the things I have seen. I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Yes it has been a long hard road but it is the things we see and do that make us the people we are. Thank you everyone for continously supporting our troops regardless of your views on this war. It means more to us that you can ever know. -Just Another Soldier

First off: As a female in the military myself, Jill it is my oppinion that what you are doing is great and very admirable. Not because of the simple fact that you are a soldier that has honorably served you country, but you are going beyond the idea of a woman in the Armed Forces. When I was a young soldier, a very pretty woman and myself had a night out on the town, just a girls night to go out and do a little dancing. We were approached by two men who asked us what we did for a living. We explained that we were both soldiers in the Army. The look of shock was amazing. These two men just could not believe that pretty women existed in the Army. From my own experiences the general public views women who join the Armed Forces as rough, robust, harsh, desperate, or even the less classy of the female gender. Understandable sometimes considering the situation and harsh enviroments we have to be placed in. BUT what Jill is doing is admirable in my eyes because she is showing all of American society that we can be lady like, have soft features, AND be mentally and pysically tough to defend and serve our country. Joing the Armed Forces is not a last resort for most but just an opportunity to feel proud, honorable, fearless, and do something that may make difference. I'M VERY PROUD OF YOU JILL FOR ALL YOU ARE DOING AND HAVE DONE!!! Now, as for the gentleman below who says women do not get put in combat jobs, he is right BUT only to a certain extent. I'm currently serving as a Military Police Officer in the United States Army and let me tell you something sir. I may be a woman and I may not be able to serve as Infantry but I have been down in the sand with them for long periods of time and even fought and bleed with them. I have been deployed 3 times to 3 different countries and we work side by side with the combat sections. So please unless you are a woman and have lived my life, please keep your close minded oppinions and experiences to yourself. You disgrace our service by being so gender biased. What you see is not always the whole picture!! Thank you everyone by supporting our troops, we appreciate it more than you will ever know. -Just another Soldier.

Its too bad that we tend to go from one extreme of overaggrandizement to another, clearly there is some anger and differentiation within the use of semantics (that means words). sir, simply because there were no women involved with your specific experience, doesn't mean that it doesn't happen. By making sweeping generalizations regading your experience as the way it was for all, speaks to the inadequacies within your experience. I find the misogyny alive and well within many comments of men in the military, Infantry are not the only people involved in these missions. you should know that. The purpose of the comments is not to get into a pissing match regarding who's experience was worse. That is pointless. Clearly you want the reading public to be aware of your sacrifice, which was significant, but yet you want to demean someone elses as "giving the girls a turn on the turret" If indeed, rules were "broken" to allow women into the villages and in the gun trucks, you should really ask the men and women of the Minnesota, New Jersey and Nebraska National Guard who just got back from Iraq as well. They would probably be happy to tell you where they were and what they were doing. Every soldier within the military has a specific job, the point is that to demean the experience of those soldiers, who happen to be women, is problematic. Not all soldiers who are women are good soldiers. The exact same is true of soldiers who are men, simply because they are, doesn't make them good soldiers. Your intent of being disrespectful is read loud and clear. Thanks for your service and dedication to our nation, hopefully no one speaks of your experience as you have spoken of many women veteran's experience. Clearly you didn't need the services of a medic to know that combat doesn't care what job you have.

What? Women are making tremendous contributions in many critical areas of the military so this truth is great enough so that we don't have to make up stuff about them.. WOMEN DO NOT SERVE IN COMBAT MOS's IN THE MILITARY!!!. This is a fact. Sure, I have seen the occasional female in a gunner's hatch or on foot in some small village, but I assure you that plenty of rules had to be ignored to make this happen. Some CO was adventurous enough to let the girls have a turn in the turret....some mechanic, or office worker or medic on an adventure. Then they get pictures taken and will be telling their grandchildren about their incredible combat experience. I got a tour in the Army and one in the Marines...just back from Iraq. This last tour had 151 combats missions for this guy......not one single woman involved. So cut the nonsense....THanks

She also isn't the only Army combat medic who has participated in beauty pageants. SSG Shannon Fezer, based on Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, is a reigning beauty queen with many titles under her belt, including most recently Mrs. Unitied Nations. (shannonfezer.com). Check out her photos from Iraq - including the ones where the seat she usually sits in during rescue flights is riddled with bullet holes (she luckily got up to check on a patient just before the chopper was shot up). She spent a year in Iraq, and flew rescue mission every single day she was there. FYI, medical helicopters are a favorite target of the insurgents - machine gun fire, RPGs, mortar fire. And they don't exactly hang a pink flag from the back if one of the medics on board is a woman. Combat flight medic teams with women on them receive the EXACT SAME missions to the EXACT SAME front lines rescues as teams that are comprised as all men.

Your assumption that this young woman was not a "combet" ( notice the correct spelling is combat) medic is so far off. Clearly you, 'spankme' have never been over to Iraq. These medics are all over the place, working in field hospitals, CASH units and providing CMO missions into the Iraqi communities, outside the wire of their respective military FOBs. Many medics get placed in other areas, with other groups, doing things that you couldn't even imagine because of their medical experience. Many of these medics, who happen to be women, do far more than just be in the "rear with the gear" Many of them are gunners on convoy escort teams, because the army requires medics to be on convoys. They are drivers, they are gunners, they are in the thick of things. These women, who you say are nowhere near combat, are in charge of 50 cal guns......It is your assumed attitude of superiority, to claim that she is not a combat medic, that makes my stomach churn. . Being a woman ABSOLUTELY does not mean that she could have been no where near combat. Have you ever seen an IED that decides to detonate based on what gender was in the convoy in front of them. This antiquated idea of no women in combat is so off base, it is typical of people that know nothing about the current military organization and who pretend to have a clue because you have a computer. Besides, what does it matter where she was. Her MOS was that of a medic, she did time in a combat zone, thousands of miles away from home, in danger, in a foreign country because the United States asked her to. She is protecting your right to bash, namelessly, faceless on your computer at home. Hooah!

She is not combet medic. She was in the rear with the gear. Because she is a woman she was nowhere near combat. Not to sound sexist it is just how it is. Don't like it, don't care. Deal with It. But otherwise I hope she wins. The writer of this article is an idiot.

I am a school teacher in a diffcult school in Utah, and I would like to thank Stg. Stevens for senting an awesome example for my students. It is important to show our children that you can do anything you put your mind to no matter what your career is, or where you come from. I would like to thank Stg Stevens for setting such and awesome example. GO GET THEM, MS. UTAH!!!

I am very proud to say that this military marval is from the proud state of Utah. Sgt. Stevens has given Utah girls the hope that they can do anything they set their mind to. Thank you Sgt. Stevens. Go get them Miss Utah!

The article about Ms. Stevens and being the "G. I. MISS AMERICA" is awesome. I really liked it when she reported how she herself had to redo her oppinion of the Miss America Pageant cotestants. Sometimes the ones who are not a contestant have no rel clue what these beautiful, intellegant women are really capable of. I am a parent of a past pageant contestant, so I have a deeper understanding of what these women go through, and even I have not got the ENTIRE scope. Thnkyou to Ms. Stevens for BOTH , the pageant and what you are doing in our MILITARY. We all profoundly thank you and all others for your comitment and for your sacrafice. ( army brat ) Donna-Ruth Asher, Kansas

It is about time that Miss America truly be a representative of all that our nation can be. With all the latest in technology our youth has at it's disposal it's nice to know that good old fashioned hard work and integrity still amount to something. i thank God everyday that our military is ttere when we need them thanks to soldiers like Jill.

Heck, she's already Miss America, doesn't need the crown.

Heck, she's already Miss America, doesn't need the crown.

If we all play stupid and fall prey to AlexD's pitifully thought out (or the lack of thought-just more liberal knee jerk reactionaryism) criteria that form of change or value to society is required to justify and legitimize any activity, then we only victimize ourselves and our creativity.

Besides, AlexD???s arrogant PCism is far too rampant and limiting in its desire to squash creativity and imagination, the seeds for our nation's greatness. Per AlexD, our creativity and imagination needs to be cited as being without any redeeming value as a form of change or value to society. What a lonely and narrow and bigoted worldview you have AlexD!