European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Military women at risk How will the nation react to casualties by Nancy Benac associated press. Diane Evans parents had four sons and two daughters. It was Diane who went to War. \ Quot no place in Vietnam was Safe Quot the former army nurse recalls. Quot we were in a combat zone and we were subject to . A it saddens her that two decades later America still is. Coming to grips with the Prospect that women May die in War alongside men. there is a War in the persian Gulf for the first time in history american women May be injured or killed in significant numbers. A a a the Pentagon wont say How Many women serve among the 240,000 troops in the Gulf Only that they comprise. Somewhat less of the Gulf contingent than their 11 percent share of the Overall . Military. A images of women soldiers feature prominently in news reports from saudi Arabia. And the role played by women has expanded allowing them to serve in a whole Range of support positions that were off limits in Days past. Many argue that makes them More vulnerable if fighting Breaks. Out. A a a a a a a a a Quot although women done to fill combat positions the roles that they Are serving in will expose them to hostile fire Quot said Meredith Neizer head of the defense advisory committee on women in the service. A no one is sure How the nation would respond to female casualties. A a Quot after All we be said about How far women have come. Americans Are not ready to have their women go out there and get maimed and killed in combat Quot said Bill Taylor of the Center for strategic and International studies. ,. Taylor said the number killed or injured in a Gulf. War probably would be Low because women done to serve in. Tank and armoured infantry units. But even the possibility of casualties among women is. Generating debate about the expanding role of women in the military and the accompanying risks. Quot there s been a makeup Call on what wartime military duty might entail Quot said Martin Binkin a military analyst with the. Brookings institution. There a less discussion about scrapping the military a ban on women in combat jobs he. Said a a a a a a a a a a. A a a a a. A a. A women Are barred by Law from serving on combat ships. And planes in the Navy air Force and marines. The army. Bars them from serving in combat related Fields such As infantry tank and some artillery units. But women serve in Many of the support and Supply units that could be caught in Battle. A. A. Rep. Patricia Schroeder d-colo., is pushing legislation to require a four year test to see How women would perform in combat related jobs she argues that excluding women from combat jobs does t insulate them from danger but it does deny them career advancement opportunities. Women she says often handle the communications for Maneu vers and communications centers Are considered prime targets for attack. Quot women would be the first hit in a strike Quot Schroeder said. She rejects arguments that americans Aren t ready to see women wounded or killed. Female police officers face life threatening dangers daily she notes. And a few women Quot came Home in body bags from both world War ii and Vietnam she said. A. Eight women nurses and More than 58,000 men died in. Vietnam. Mom than 200 women and More than 400,000 men died in world War Vaught president of the women in the military service of America foundation believes the american Public has overcome any special qualms about the wartime loss of women is. Men. Quot we be progressed far from where we were a said the retired air Force brigadier general Quot people Don t want their women killed any More than they want their men kilted. They a like for them All to . And yet. Binkin cautions Quot you still have Many people with a traditional views that War is not a place for women a National geographic nearly halt the doctors and nurses on the Hospital ship mercy in the Pamela Wright of Waukesha wis., and Joe Lholmes of Trenton n.j., Checka Seaman during and. Of women returning to . Soil in caskets Binkin said. Quot if we get into a combat situation that brings Home the Point of what War is All about you might get different answers Quot he said. V. / for Drane Evans the army nurse who served in. Vietnam the key to accepting the risks face in today a military lies in acknowledging their contributions in past conflicts. She directs the Vietnam women a memorial project. Y a Quot we could have casualties in the Gulf even before we have a memorial built to women who died in the last War Quot Evans said. Quot we want the women who go off to the next one to know they will not be National geographic pakistani bus Drivers receive instructions from sgt. Lisa Wysong of Portland ore., at an air base in Eastern saudi Arabia. The question of women in combat is Quot a very emotional Issue and it Well be reopened Quot by the Gulf operation he said. Some critics believe the american Public has been conditioned to accept the expanding role of women in the military and the risk they could die in War. Quot we be become numbed to a Point Quot said Brian Mitchell author of the weak link a Book critical of the Quot feminization Quot of the military. Quot we be had enough propaganda about How great this is. That women can go Over there and fight and die like men Quot he said. Quot the american Public has been conditioned. To think that this is just the Way things Are a new York times lbs news poll taken in january 1990, after military women served ably in the . Invasion of Panama found that seven of 10 americans thought women should be allowed to serve in combat units if they wished. Opinion could quickly shift if hostilities result in images mapmakers checklist by Joy Aschenbach National geographic g Ermany unified the Yemen merged Kuwait seized Namibia born a those who map it wonder what s next on the worlds changes already have been momentous. On the eve of world War ii there were 70 countries in the world today there Are at least 170. The official count varies depending on whether controversial places such As Taiwan Are recognized As Sovereign states. The dramatic increase has resulted primarily from the collapse of colonialism. More than 80 percent of the new nations were once wholly or partly under British or French control. Quot the decade of the 90s portends a lot of changes in the world order Quot says John b. Garver chief cartographer at the National geographic society. Quot the great moment was nov. 9,1989, when the Berlin Wall was breached. Its symbolic that anything is possible including the disintegration of the soviet . As the world realigns itself cartographers and a geographers Are preparing checklists of at least a dozen political hot spots where International boundaries May shift or be erased where Island territories May change hands and where nations May unify or break apart. Without making predictions mapmakers Are watching Iraq Kuwait a for the moment Kuwait does t exist. Quot that a the de Facto situation Quot says National geographic geographer Ted Dachtera. Since the aug. 2 invasion the Border Fence has been torn Down and a a a the stars and stripes Friday january 11,1991. I ii i ii 114 v i i i i k1h i id m m �?os8 Iff i. Pm i pm pm Kuwait Nas be ii Siut Dikiy . Been annexed to iraqis Basra province and the Southern half has become iraqis 19th province. Soviet Union a Quot this is the country where most a. Changes Are Likely to happen. The soviet map in. The year �?�2000 will not be close to what it is now Quot says geographer Joseph e. Swartzberg of the University of Minnesota. Nearly All 15 soviet republics asserted their. Independence from some form in 1990 in the Ukraine even the russian Ruble has been replaced. Within the russian Republic which alone is larger in area than any nation the yamal tenets District has declared itself a full Republic. V Yugoslavia a the six republics the late marshal Tito held together in a socialist federation could become six countries. Slovenia has declared its Independence and wants Yugoslavia to become a confederation. Ethnic hatreds have also inflamed Croatia and the Kosovo. Province of Serbia. A. Cyprus a the Mediterranean Island is split by a Quot Green line Quot that has separated greek and turkish cypriots since turkeys 1974 invasion. In 1983 turkish cypriots declared their 38 percent of the Island the a Independent Republic of Northern Cyprus. A Israel Arab states a at the heart of Middle East. A turmoil since the june 1967 Arab israeli War has been the Issue of a separate palestinian state. Since Israel proclaimed its Independence in 1948, it has fought four wars with hostile Arab neighbors capturing the formerly jordanian occupied areas of East Jerusalem the West Bank and Gaza strip in the 1967 conflict. North and South Korea their Border still sealed at the demilitarized zone the two Korea have embarked on the first High level talks to end their hostility. Like the Germany the Korea were created by foreign Powers after world War ii. Kuril islands a one of the last battlegrounds of the cold War these Small strategic islands kept the soviet Union and Japan from signing a peace treaty after world War ii. Claimed As Japan a Northern territories the islands have been occupied by the soviets since 1945 Kashmir a the princely predominantly moslem state of Jammu and Kashmir has been bitterly divided Between India and Pakistan since 1949. Desire for self determination has intensified and fighting erupted again. Last August. South Africa a easing of the strict apartheid policy May Lead to re incorporation of the four Black homelands which South Africa declared Independent. No other nation has recognized these homelands As separate countries. Ethiopia a bloodied by rebel warfare Eritrea province May succeed in breaking away from Ethiopia after nearly 40 years. Quot the Horn of Africa could blow up in several places Quot warns geographer harm j de Blip of Georgetown University. Canada a canadians Are searching their souls about whether to continue their country a 123-year-old confederation. Two commissions on Canadas future were created after the failure last june of the Meech Lake Accord which would have granted French speaking. Quebec province special states within Canada. Puerto Rico the 51st . State an expected. 1991 referendum May determine whether puerto Rico Sticks with the status quo As a . Commonwealth or becomes a state or Sovereign nation. Such a checklist of potential changes is hardly. Complete because pockets of disputed land can be found on every continent. Geographic changes can happen As unexpectedly As the demolition of the Berlin Wall. Quot year and a half ago Quot says geographer Brad Thomas of the state department Quot we would not have put the Germany on such a . A National Googin Pulc israeli soldiers patrol a Roadblock at the town of Medulla on the fortified Border with Lebanon. Israel controls a 6-mile-wide, 50-mile-Long strip inside Lebanon that it claims As a Quot Security since the state a of Israel was proclaimed in 1948, it has fought four wars with its Arab neighbors. E european Kadi be a a a i keeping you in touch keeping you informed. Randy Pruitt recently spent six weeks in saudi Arabia covering army air Force Marine coast guard and National guard units in the persian Gulf. He rubbed shoulders with a saudi Sheik with americans at Aramco Headquarters and with troops deep in the arabian desert. He spent one night near the kuwaiti Border at an army observation Post and one frustrating but humorous night in a saudi police station. Pruitt a general assignment reporter at the newspapers main office in Darmstadt Germany has been with the stars and stripes for 15 months. Prior to that he worked for two bars As a journalist for the Tulsa world newspaper in Tulsa Oklahoma his Hometown. Pruitt who has a masters degree in journalism was a journalist for Over 15 years before coming to stripes. His reporting has won numerous. Associated press and journalism awards. Operation desert shield Friday january 11, 1991 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17
