Women at War
off. The pilot and engineer of Pedro One Five helped the parajumpers transfer
the three patients to Pedro One Six. Then they strapped themselves to the other
Kiowa’s skids after the patients and paratroopers boarded Pedro One Six.
MJ saw a muzzle flash from a Taliban fighter on a nearby hill. American
rules of engagement say US soldiers can only return fire if they are certain of an
enemy shooter’s location. This prevents hitting civilians or other American soldiers
by accident. MJ remembered, “I managed to squeeze off a dozen rounds as the
helo lifted off the ground. I doubted my shots could be lethal or even accurate at
this range. All I could hope for was to get the enemy to duck to give us enough
time to take off.” It worked.
Twenty minutes later, MJ’s Kiowa landed at Frontenac. She unstrapped
herself from the skid. She was frantic to get to the communications hut and find
out if the other members of her crew, the parajumpers, and the patients had
arrived. A medic blocked MJ’s way. “Captain, sir, I have to check out these
wounds. I can’t let you go until I take a look.”
MJ remembered, “I switched my rifle to my left hand and showed him my
right arm. ‘See? I’m fine.’” But he insisted on looking at her thigh, covered in
dried blood. Rather than waste time going to the clinic with the medic, MJ
dropped her pants in the middle of the yard. “I’m not sure they noticed I was a
woman under all that body armor and helmet. Now they stared openly—at my
Hello Kitty panties.”
Her gunner scowled at the gawking men in the yard and snapped, “What
the [HECK] are YOU looking at?” The soldiers quickly turned away. The medic
checked MJ’s wound and said, “You’re good to go . . . ma’am.” Minutes later,
MJ learned that everyone—crew and patients alike—had arrived safely.
CLOSE TO HEAVEN
Mary Jennings wanted to be a fighter pilot her entire life. “I knew it the first
time I saw
Star Wars
. I wanted to be Han Solo, flying the
Millennium Falcon
through an asteroid field.” MJ had no idea how complicated her path to
combat pilot would be. In high school, she asked one of her trusted mentors
to write a recommendation so she could apply for a college scholarship with
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