Customer Reviews

Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution

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As the title of my review indicates, this book was extremely thorough in its history of women in the military. It recounts the evolution of women serving in the military as early as the Civil War (by disquising themselves as men); through the World Wars, where women became increasingly recognized as a crucial asset, serving as aviators and nearly every other specialty outside of direct combat. The book continues through the 1960s and 1970s as legislation made women a permanent component of the US Armed Forces and concludes with the most recent demonstration of "womanpower" in the Persian Gulf. Throughout the book Maj Gen (ret) Holm offers first hand experience and detailed facts and statistics of this difficult and exciting evolution. This combination makes it an enjoyable book, reading more like a novel than a history book. This is a history not often retold, but critical to understanding "Women in the Military."

I first purchased this book when I was serving in the Air Force overseas. I found it to be a clear and accurate account of what it is like to be a woman in the military. I was profoundly grateful that I was serving in a time where it was mainly whether or not I had the physical and mental qualifications to perform the job I was doing. I was (and in some ways still are) a avionics specialist, a job where I had to be tops in electronics yets still be able to lift avionics parts that weighed over 50 lbs over my head. I salute the women that came before me, paving the way, making advances so that I would consider it a matter of fact that I would be judged by my learned behaviors and not my sex. I think that if someone can do the job, physically and mentally, it should be allowed to them. It is sad to say that I still encountered those "women should be at home and not mucking about" in and out of the military but they did not bother me much, I set them straight using info from this book and my own personal experiance. This is a must read for any woman who wants to experiance our lives and way to push for true equality, judged only on capability and not blind religious dogma. Thank you General Holm (Ret.).

I'm going to keep this short:

I read this book when I was 16 years old and it changed my life and the way that I saw myself. I am forever grateful that this book was written and that I found it.

This book has many facts in it that it appears that many are still unable to accept. It's sad, considering our long history in the military and the number of times that we've proven ourselves that so many still think us incapable.

If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it.

I am a Vietnam Era Vet, and so I'm quite aware of Jeanne Holm and all she did for the Air Force. Even though I had my 'problems' while in the service, I never had anything but respect for her and all that she had accomplished. I read that she had died and saw that she had written a book and had to purchase it immediately. I'm thrilled with it.

This liberal tirade recounts the slow and insidious inroads made by radical feminism into our nation's military. As someone who has served in the military, I can personally testify to the damage women have caused by serving in combat-related positions. Unprecedented levels of divorce and adultery are two sad results of women working in a close environment with men under intense conditions. The author clearly has an immoral value system that places no regard for the families that have been ruined by mothers sent overseas, emasculated husbands, and the adultery/divorce that skyrocketed after women entered the service. Conservatives should save their money and read the much better book on the subject by Stephanie Gutmann, "A Kinder, Gentler, Military".