Besides the certainty of taxes and death, we know sex sells. Americans are bombarded with images of women to sell everything from beer to cars. Meanwhile, young women and men searching for role models may have difficulty seeing past the “sex sells” mentality that ties a woman’s worth to her looks. The nearly ubiquitous publicity…
This is the 22nd installment in the Honored Role Series. Fed up with the constant media attention and hyper-promotion of tissue-thin fashion models and beauty queens with little between the ears, Valencia de la Vega entered the Ms. Latina Beauty Pageant in October 2009. This former Army Captain and combat veteran turned Intel engineer decided…
This is the 21st installment in the Honored Role Series. Not one to rest idly, less than six months after retiring from the Army, Colonel Debra Lewis is taking action on another mission. This one, accompanied by Lt. Col. (ret.) Doug Adams, her spouse, is a 16,000-mile yearlong cycling tour of the United States to…
This is the 20th installment in the Honored Role Series. Jana Fajardo grew up wanting to serve in the military, despite the fact that less than two percent of Americans do so. Both her maternal grandparents served in the Armed Forces. Her grandmother enlisted in the British Navy and her grandfather served 27 years in…
This is the 19th installment in the Honored Role Series. Like many, Angela Maria Lungu joined the Army to earn a college degree and did not anticipate serving past her initial five-year obligation or remotely consider the possibility of living and working overseas. The retired lieutenant colonel remarked, “I never thought I would stay in….
This is the 18th installment in the Honored Role Series. Saturday’s graduation at West Point will mark 30 years since the first women joined “the long gray line” of graduates of the storied Military Academy. During the commencement exercises, Taneshina Wright will take the oath of a commissioned officer and become a Second Lieutenant in…
This is the 17th installment in the Honored Role Series. In Kindergarten Candice O’Brien started running the 1/8th of a mile loop around her elementary school in Muscatine, Iowa. Each time she finished ahead of all the other kids—girls and boys. Although she ran for fun, she did not want anyone to beat her. From…
This is the 16th installment in the Honored Role Series. More than a word of welcome or parting, “Aloha”, in the Hawaiian language means affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. Often described as the coordination of mind and heart, it also means the extension of warmth in caring with no obligation in return. This would…