Why I Write Military Heroines

Nov 11 2020, 9:23 am in ,

            I write about extraordinary women and the men they love. Military heroines.  Women at the top of their field in a man’s world. The men in their lives accept them for who they are and stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their adventures.

I’m frequently asked why my heroines are in the military.

Let me begin by saying the military is in my DNA. I come from a family, who over the years, have served in every branch of the service in every conflict since WWI. Two great, great, great, great uncles were in the Charge of the Light Brigade. Thomas Dunn, a corporal, and Alexander James Dunn, a lieutenant were members of the 11th Hussars, a British Army unit. Lieutenant Dunn was killed in the battle. Corporal Dunn was one of the fabled survivors.

My daddy trained Coast Guard recruits in Florida and Washington State, and patrolled in the North Atlantic riding shotgun for convoys. 

Another Uncle was a Navy ace in WWll and in Korea.

One uncle, on Daddy’s side of my family, was home in December 1941 for leave before he was to report to his next duty. His next duty? The USS Arizona in Hawaii.

My husband’s uncle served in Germany.

Hubs was a Marine and served in Vietnam.

One son was with the first Marines into Bagdad in the Iraq war.

There are many others but I think you get the point. 

 

Now, back to that question why my heroines are in the military.  I say why don’t we have more books with military heroines? I feel like the women in the service of their countries are under appreciated.

George Washington credits winning the war against England to six colonial spies who risked their lives to bring him information. One of them a woman whose name has never been discovered.

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker is the only woman to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor awarded for her life saving work during the Civil War. Her name was deleted from the Medal of Honor Roll in 1917. She was asked to return the medal and refused, wearing it every day until she died.

Agnes Meyer Driscoll known as Madame X, an American cryptanalyst for the U.S. Navy during World War I was a brilliant code breaker.

During WWII over 1000 women in this country flew every type of military aircraft, ferrying them to military bases and departure points. They were test pilots and towed targets to give gunners training. Their service wasn’t recognized until the 70s.

Nancy Augusta Wake was a British agent who became a courier for the French Resistance. By 1943, Wake was the Gestapo’s most wanted person, with a 5 million-franc price on her head.

 Rose Antonia Maria Valland, a French art historian and member of the French Resistance. A captain in the French military, and one of the most decorated women in French history. She secretly recorded details of the Nazi plundering of National French and private Jewish-owned art from France. Remember the book and movie The Monument Men? That’s her.

I have a special place in my heart for the nurses who took care of those who fought in Vietnam.  (Read, The Trunk, in my collection of short stories Let Me Tell You A Story)

In my first book, Under Fire, a Coast Guard helicopter pilot teams with a DEA agent and launches a personal seek and destroy mission to find her brother’s killer. This thriller follows the two through the dangerous drug underworld, a fierce gun battle at sea and brings down a notorious drug lord.

In Under Fire: The Admiral, a Coast Guard officer and the doctor she is flying on medical missions in Ecuador are shot down off the coast by a drug cartel. She uses all her skills to get him home safely. While in the jungle, she is the doctor’s Guardian against danger and he becomes the guardian of her heart.  

Point of No Return features a female Marine Corps Intelligence officer and a contract spy, investigating kidnappings of military children and mysterious deaths. As they navigate the murky political waters of the Pentagon, and private armies, it’s hard to know who’s lying to your face, and who’ll stab you in the back.

In Hunter’s Heart the heroine works closely with military units.  Her personal and professional life is a complicated tangle of dark secrets, and she can’t afford to let anyone close. A Navy SEAL earns her trust and learns her secrets putting him in more danger than he’s ever known. 

Check all my books out on my Amazon Author Page

                                                           Rita

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why I Write Military Heroines

Nov 4 2017, 9:35 am in , ,

I’m often asked why write military heroines? My question is: why don’t we have more books with military heroines? I feel like the women in the service of their countries are under appreciated.

            Well, I come from a family, who over the years, have served in every branch of the service in every conflict since WWI. I have ancestors who served in British conflicts back to the early 1800’s. Two great, great, great, great uncles were in the Charge of the Light Brigade. Thomas Dunn, a corporal, and Alexander James Dunn, a lieutenant were members of the 11th Hussars, a British Army unit. Lieutenant Dunn was killed in the battle. Corporal Dunn was one of the fabled survivors.

            I have stories of family in WWI but no proof. SO, fast forward to the next war to end all wars and I have many, many relatives who served. Some weren’t even in the military. Half of my family lives in Florida. Have since around the early 1900s. An uncle owned several shrimp boats. One day, after the start of WWII, some scary guys in suits and uniforms showed up and said his boats were needed to protect the east coast from U-boats. There was no please. No thank you. No payment. All his boats were taken and he never got them back. I take that back he got as couple back in such bad repair they were useless.  He never complained. He was proud he could help.

            My daddy trained Coast Guard recruits in Florida and Washington State, and patrolled in the North Atlantic riding shotgun for convoys.  

            Another Uncle was a Navy ace in that war and in Korea.

            One uncle, on the other side of my family, was home in December 1941 for 30 days of leave before he was to report to his next duty. His next duty? The USS Arizona in Hawaii.

            My husband’s uncle served in Germany.

            Hubs was a Marine and served in Vietnam.

            One son was with the first Marines into Bagdad in the Iraq war.

            There are many others but I think you get the point. The military in is my DNA.

 

             George Washington credits winning the war against England to six colonial spies who risked their lives to bring him information. One of them was a woman whose name has never been discovered.

            Dr. Mary Edwards Walker is the only woman to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor for her efforts during the Civil War. Her name was deleted from the Medal of Honor Roll in 1917. She was asked to return the medal and refused, wearing it every day until she died.

              Agnes Meyer Driscoll known as Madame X, an American cryptanalyst for the U.S. Navy during World War I was a brilliant code breaker.

            During WWII over 1000 women in this country flew every type of military aircraft, ferrying them to military bases and departure points. They were test pilots and towed targets to give gunners training. Their service wasn’t recognized until the 70s.

          Nancy Augusta Wake was a British agent who became a courier for the French Resistance. By 1943, Wake was the Gestapo’s most wanted person, with a 5 million-franc price on her head.

           Rose Antonia Maria Valland was a French art historian, a member of the French Resistance, a captain in the French military, and one of the most decorated women in French history. She secretly recorded details of the Nazi plundering of National French and private Jewish-owned art from France. Remember the book and movie The Monument Men? That’s her.

           I have a special place in my heart for the nurses who took care of those who fought in Vietnam. Read, The Trunk, in my new book Let Me Tell You A Story.      

            The person who is credited with finding the terrorist leader who ordered the 9/11 attacks (I refuse to say his name) is a woman.      

     So you can see why I wrote Under Fire, Under Fire: The Admiral, Point of No Return with extraordinary Military heroines. Women at the top of their field in a man’s world. They don’t want a man to take care of them they want a man who will accept them for who they are and stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their adventures.

   

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