Rhonda Cornum. It’s becoming common today for women to serve as U.S. soldiers in harm’s way. Cornum’s story is instructive regarding the dangers they face. She was a flight surgeon during the Persian Gulf War, shot down in a helicopter in which five people were killed, and taken prisoner in Iraq. There she recovered from a broken jaw, was raped, and then featured in a mock execution. She was released in 1991, and went on to become a much decorated brigadier general (one of only seven women to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross). She is now retired, age 61, writes of her experiences, is married to an Air Force orthopedist, and remains a surgeon.
TOM TIEDE