It takes All of us to Defend Freedom ... let's celebrate these fellow Vets

From the front lines to the flight deck, from code-breaking rooms to space missions, women have been rewriting the story of the U.S. armed forces for generations. They've driven trucks, led troops, commanded shuttles and changed the course of technology and history - often while breaking barriers few thought possible. Here are seven remarkable women whose service, courage and brilliance left a lasting mark on the military and the nation.

Ranging from the Civil War to the modern age and representing all services, these women broke barriers, made a difference and became role models.

Best known for her roles on the popular television shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls," the late Bea Arthur was also once a truck driver in the Marine Corps. She was one of the first members of the Women's Reserve, and aside from driving military trucks, Arthur was also a typist.

She enlisted at the age of 21 in early 1943 under her original name, Bernice Frankel. Appraisals from her enlistment interviews described her conversation as "argumentative" and her attitude and manner as "over aggressive" -- fitting, given the cantankerous characters she would play later in life. In a handwritten note, the Marine interviewer remarked, "Officious - but probably a good worker -- if she has her own way!"

She enlisted at the age of 21 in early 1943 under her original name, Bernice Frankel. Appraisals from her enlistment interviews described her conversation as "argumentative" and her attitude and manner as "over aggressive" -- fitting, given the cantankerous characters she would play later in life. In a handwritten note, the Marine interviewer remarked, "Officious - but probably a good worker -- if she has her own way!"

Known as "Amazing Grace," Commodore Hopper's importance in U.S. naval history is apparent everywhere you turn: a destroyer was named after her (USS Hopper, DDG-70), as was the Cray XE6 "Hopper" supercomputer. As founder of the COBOL programming language, a precursor to many of the software code approaches of today, her work is legendary among computer scientists and mathematicians.

As a young child, Eileen Collins loved to sit with her dad in the family car and watch airplanes take off and land. The roar of the powerful engines and the grace of the aircraft as they seemed to float in the air always held excitement and enchantment for the young daughter of Irish immigrants. That love of flying would lead the Air Force colonel to be honored as the first woman to command a space shuttle mission, STS-93, in July 1999, and place the NASA astronaut into the history books.

One of the most celebrated heroines in American history, Harriet Tubman is best known for ushering slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad in the 1850s. But not everyone knows that Tubman, who escaped slavery in 1849, set up a vast espionage ring for the Union during the Civil War. She served as a cook, a nurse and even a spy for the Union during the Civil War, and she also was the first woman in American history to lead a military expedition.

During World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps pioneered military medical care through the development of air evacuations of wounded personnel. Contributing to this was 2nd Lt. Elsie S. Ott, a flight nurse on the first intercontinental air evacuation flight that demonstrated the potential of air evacuation. Born in 1913 in Smithtown, N.Y, Ott attended Lenox Hill Hospital School of Nursing in New York City after completing high school. After several positions in area hospitals, Ott joined the Army Nurse Corps in September 1941.

Union soldiers during the Civil War knew a comrade known as Franklin Flint Thompson, but in reality, Thompson was really a woman -- Sarah Emma Edmonds -- and one of the few females known to have served during the Civil War. Edmonds was born in Canada in 1841, but desperate to escape an abusive father and forced marriage, she moved to Flint, Michigan, in 1856, where she discovered that life was easier when she dressed as a man. Compelled to join the military out of a sense of duty, she enlisted in the 2nd Michigan Infantry as a male field nurse.

"A Piece of  Mv Heart'': The Stories of 26 American Woman who Served in Vietna

"Mike, the kids had a blast once again, thanks a million. This is one of the best community-building events I get to offer this group, I'll be sure to circle back next year!"
– Feedback from the Nevada Union High School District Special Education director who for two years now has these kids & teachers Bowling in our Fun Alley.