First Lieutenant Ashley White died in Afghanistan last weekend along with Sgt. 1st Class Kristoffer B. Domeij, of San Diego, Calif., and Pfc. Christopher A. Horns, of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Like so many of our troops, they were killed by an IED
Ashley was a true warrior. A member of a Cultural Support Team, she worked in support of Special Operations units and exposed herself to danger on a regular basis. She was a member of only the second class of this elite female team and you can bet that in the decades to come she will go down in history as a trailblazer for women warriors everywhere.
Ashley, by her family’s account, loved being in the military. What struck me most about the obituary in the Fayetteville Observer was the pride her family felt in her service. It made me think that perhaps we have reached, or are in reach of that point where service is service and the value of sacrifice is not measured by what chromosomes you possess.
I’m sure there will be those who will gnash their teeth and spout idiocy about how we can’t have America’s daughters coming home in body bags…that war is too dangerous for women…that women don’t belong in special forces. Well Ashley, by her bravery, proved they do. I know she wasn’t on a Special Forces team. Those are for men. But equality doesn’t always mean replication. The Cultural Support Teams are the first iteration of women forging their own unique special forces function and have no doubt it will grow from there. Just as SEAL teams grew from the WWII Scouts and Raiders, OSS Operational Swimmers and Underwater Demolition Teams.
I feel a special kind of grief for 1st Lt. White. I wonder with a start like she had and with her obvious love for her job what she could have been. I wished she had survived to blaze more trails for our sisters in uniform. But she leaves a legacy. And that legacy is a message to the rest of us. This business we have undertaken can be cruel and the losses linger on in perpetuity. But the honor and the sense of purpose and selflessness that comes with taking on the mantel of defending ones nation is a gift. Ashley was out there, side by side with some of the baddest-ass guys we have. And she made a difference. She gave it everything she had and I am so proud that we girls have someone like her to point to and say, “see?”
I know Teddy Roosevelt probably would turn in his grave to think of genteel women in full battle rattle exposing themselves to danger. And he probably didn’t think of someone like Ashley when we said the following words but I share them anyway because it’s my tribute to her. To her uncommon bravery, her willingness to push the boundaries of what women can do in the military. And for her spirit, which lives on and will live on every time a little girl see someone in uniform and thinks, “I can do that.”
“It’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worth cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat”.– Theodore Roosevelt
(For a look at how the Cultural Support Team members are selected, check out this piece in the Washington Post by Kevin Maurer.)
Comments
I commented on the Military.com new page, and I am going to only repeat myself here…but here it goes:
1. I am inspite of my wounds recieved during active duty jumping back into the fray. While I can not go back into active service, I can join the Coast Guard Auxillary; nope this is not the Boy or the Girl Scouts, this IS a part of the USCG and the DO contribute significantly to the mission of DHS
2. I would like to make a POW/MIA/KIA bracelet in the honor of First Lieutenant Ashley White . considering that I have never worn or had one of these before, I would appreciate any appropriate info to put on the braclet. Thanks
I am gonna do this, or C#!p and die on myself in the process. So, what did YOU decide today!!
http://herobracelets.org/
As a retired Coastie, I can attest for the fact the the Auxillary is an integral part of the Coast Guards many missions. I have worked with and know many in the Auxilary who have worked right along side their active duty counterparts.
FTCS, USCG, (ret.)
The information you need in order to have a KIA Bracelet made is:
1LT Ashley White-Stumpf
230BSB, 3HBCT, 22 October 2011, Kandahar
I ordered one for myself from Ranger Joe's and was not able to fit all the information on the second line, so you may have to "play" with it a little bit – depending upon how many characters they allow per line.
The Team had their bracelets made by Custom Memorial Bracelets, it reads:
1LT ASHLEY IRENE WHITE STUMPF
CST 1 PLT C CO 2/75 RANGER REGIMENT
KIA 22 OCT 2011 ZHARI, AFGHANISTAN
My daughter was her teammate and Ashley's service and sacrifice will never be forgotten by our family.
Please excuse the multiple comments, I tried to keep it as brief as possible and still make my point.
Thanks for your excellent tribute to Ashley. I grew up one of four boys, am a retired Army and USAF Officer, a combat vet and, “ol‘fashioned“ guy with “traditional” male attitudes. I am also the father of three daughters. The youngest is an Army 2LT serving as a CST member in a remote Afghanistan village in support of a Green Beret ODA Team. My daughter trained with Ashley and knew her well.
Continued…
From a personal perspective; they are soldiers first and always. They need no defending from me and are no “special class”. This group can hack it. They are handpicked for this work and screened through a filter of more than 50% attrition. They are greeted with skepticism, or worse, but always prove themselves to their command and more importantly, their peers. If you don’t believe this…ask those who serve with them.
They reach the population in ways hitherto impossible; they absolutely belong and contribute to our Special Operations in Afghanistan. They burn barrels of crap, hump their rucks, pull their duty and check one another’s six. Then, they goad and badger each other with good humored but stinging harassment only those who have earned this camaraderie can understand.
History will tell if they are pioneers or trail blazers. I don’t care if they are. This I know – they are soldiers. God Bless our troops.
As a retired, wounded US Army Vietnam Veteran who started in Intelligence, saw a war and wanted to do what soldiers are trained to do, fight in combat, got assigned in my SMOS 11B and served two years in the unpopular war. I have always wondered why the US Army or other services (except the USAF) are constantly afraid of exposing their women warriors to combat. They are dedicated and as committed as our male soldiers. The State of Israel and other nations around the world utilize all their soldiers in a combat role. I grieve the same for 1LT White as I do for every soldier who gives their life for this country. In my career, the worst assignment I ever had was notification to the next of kin. I will take to my grave the memory of a mother of a PFC pounding on my chest screaming "you killed my son". Hopefully the parents of 1LT White understood she died doing what she wanted to do. No soldier wants to die but she is a model for all soldiers. Advising, education, training and combat is an important part of building trust with both the population and forming an army of any nation that is fighting for its life. LT White was a front line advisor with a very important mission. It is unlikely that she will receive a Silver Star or CIB but she was an major force in our war fighting and building the relationship between the women of that nation and also gathering bits of very important information that fits into the larger picture. Advising and interfacing with locals take a special skill. I served as an Infantry Advisor in Vietnam, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Africa. The leaders of this nation's forces unfortunately started the program that LT White and the basic advisor program (for this war and Iraq) very late. My humble opinion. The JCS needs to rethink when we put boots on the ground and insure that we "have individuals with the Advisory mentality" on the ground to immediate establish that connection. Again, I salute LT White as a true combat hero who gave her life for this country and and I grieve for her and every soldier, airman and sailor who have given their lives in this war. God Bless Them.
I have always wondered why the US Army or other services (except the USAF) are constantly afraid of exposing their women warriors to combat. They are dedicated and as committed as our male soldiers.
I agree. I always felt it was demeaning when someone referred to me as a female officer instead of a Navy officer.
What did that say about me and the other dedicated women I knew?
I am honored to have served this nation and had I been assigned, and I requested orders to Vietnam but was turned down because "we don't assign women to xxxxxx", yet I was filling a job that was exactly like the one I requested with the exception of fact it was not in Vietnam, I would have felt honored to have served in that capacity despite dangers.
My father was in Vietnam and died as a result of Agent Orange poisoning. He was in I Corps and spent too much time in the bush where considerable amount of defoliant was dropped.
May you be with your God today. Remember the POW/MIA's and KIA's. Give honor to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice. as a discharged airman i salute all who have given their time and their lives to keep our freedom free. May no other people try to take over our wonderful country and live to tell about it. you have woken a sleeping giant again and he is mad. I thank ALL military personel oversea's and state side for their job well done.
After reading this:
http://www.military.com/news/article/army-ranger-…
earlier this week I am pleased to see a piece focusing on this soldier. To see her so blatantly ignored was painful and disappointing. Rest in peace. All of you.
Amen.
I agree whole-heartedly. My daughter does a job similar to Asheley's, and I was very upset to hear of LT. White's death, and see how Mil.com glossed over it. My deepest condolences to LT White's family. If there is any consolation from this sacrifice, know that your daughter was a hero and lived life on her own terms, even with knowing the risks involved.
The sad thing is that women are often overlooked. When I served we were referred to often as female officers instead of Navy officers like our male counterparts. It was demeaning to us to be seen in a light somehow inferior to the men. We served in positions as responsible as the men did, yet we were often overlooked for accomplishments.
Sad that quite often fine women officers left the Navy because of the way they were treated.
It is quite understandable for men to overlook the accomplishments of women. It's unfortunate, but that is the arrogance of man. I don't like it, but it is part of us.
God Bless all our military male and female for their service and lives dedicated to this country's security
I grew up with Ashley and am thankful for this piece and everyone who is recognizing her as a great soldier that served her country. Being considered a "trailblazer for women" would have likely made Ashley laugh. She was too humble to take such a high credit for simply doing her job. I miss her already, but I know her memory and spirit is going to live on in every heart of us back home and women on the ground serving out nation as she did.
Ashley and myself have been friends for years, We enlisted together. and i can tell you first hand Ahsley is not a Hero because she was a woman. Ashley was just plain out a hero. a Humble leader with a caring personality. She shouldn't have been recogonized for being with a ranger unit because she was a woman, But because she got well over a 300 pt score…even if you were Scoring her as a male. Never one time in our military career did i ever do more push up's, sit up's or run faster than her, and i was a stud at PT, She bench pressed well over her body weight. But never would she gloat, only encourage others, and ask if you needed a running partner or wanted to do pt with you. She was rock hard, and a heart of gold. Let us not remember Ashley as a woman who could hang with special forces. But as a person who was The best of the best, period. I miss you Ashley, some day we'll run together in heaven.
I guess in reading some the the respectful posts of the loss of one of our Troops, whether she was a woman or a man. The fact of the matter is she did amazing things that broke the ground for places a man couldn't go, as a American Soldier. And she died doing what she was trained to do, choose to do and did it with the courage and committment that we hope all our Soldiers have. So why are we having this conversation? She should be celebrated for a job well done, and if she had survived it would have been, well that was just part of her job, and why was she in such a dangerous area? Because she joined, trained, succeeded in doing her job in places others had failed. Respect her for that! And most of all RESPECT HER FOR BEING ONE OF OUR SOLDIERS not a frail little girl who was put in a bad position by some soldiers who didn't tell her where she was going..Come On People..Read the post above me, she was in every single way a SOLDIER now respect her and those who will follow her, as they are needed in this fight, and why should the world see it as a weakness in our own society??? Then they really will have problems…Rest In Peace Soldier~ And Thank You For Your Service…
I will keep Lt. Ashley White in my prayers, may our Lord welcome Ashley home to be with Him and may He grant Ashley's family peace… Thank you Ashley for your service.
Sacrifice is sacrifice, it does not have a sex. Women have been in PSU's in the USCG since 1986, when the USMC had to get their "special female trainers" to teach combat field sanitation. etc.. to them in Quantico. Why did it take the Army so long? The USCG had a policy, if you could do the practical factors, you could do the duty! In Engineering School at Yorktown, we had women in our MK class that lifted the same diesel engine heads that we did, sure they had to train to do it, so what they did it! As a range coach, I can tell you that women learned faster than the men. They could go from never having fired a weapon except for basic to boarding team qualified in short order, that is, if I taught them. Attitude is everything. I am not surprised by the sacrifices made by female members of our military tribes, after all, I married one. My wife was an Air Force Medic from Vietnam Era. Lead so others may follow!!
God Bless All who serve!!
RIP Ashley… Thank you for your service. We appreciate your being brave and sacrificing your life for our freedom. My thoughts and prayers go to your family, friends and those who served with you. With a heart-filled with gratefulness…
Katie
Blue Star Mom
Coarsegold, Ca.
My deepest condolences to 1stLT White's family. This soldier died while serving our Nation. Honor her for that.
Thanks to all for the comments here. To those who knew Ashley, I especially valued hearing your first person accounts of her life. Thank you for sharing them with us.
I remember seeing a story on cable news not long ago about a female officer who was working with Afghan women and now I read this…………….
Rest in peace Ashley and may your family and friends find comfort.
I want to express my deepest and sincer condolences to the family,friends and L.T. Whites Company. I thank her and every service member past and present for doing what we do. Freedom is not free and those that are doing the job every day to insure or way of life. God Bless you all.
RIP Ashely you gave what many would not ,men and women.I appreciate what you have done for the U.S.A. The male are just worry the fenale wile show them up. I t would be a honred to me if it is ok with your family to wear you RANK and NAME ON ALL MY ARMY HATS. JAMES C. VIETNAM VET. YOU ARE A HEROIN MY EYES YOU HAVE GIVED THE ULITIMATE SACRIFICE. MY DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO YOUR FAMILY.
R.I.P. Ma'am, job well done-best wishes to your family,in this time of their grief, you're gone but not forgotten, SUPPORT THE TROOPS-GO Army-
Jim H.
former Army SFC, Viet vet
R.I.P.Lt Ashely, iam an ex female soldier who was looking to make a carier in the army. My whole dada was to go where u did I never made it but am so proud of u an all females “MILITARY SOLDIERS” none want to die but we all kno the what is entailed an can only hope an pray for tge better, we got to many people who supossidly run our country an make decsions an judgements not for us the people or betterment but for selfish greedy means this war lives being sacrifised because shot callers selfish greed for wanting to run or own nother country