MAKING HERSTORY: PUERTO RICAN WOMEN IN THE MILITARY

We cannot forget HERSTORY. I was inspired to write about our Puerto Rican Women in the military because too much attention is paid to our Puerto Rican men that served, but not our brave Puerto Rican women. This is a beginning.

Olga Custodio: Born 1954, in Puerto Rico, was the First Latina U.S. Military Pilot. She tried to join the Reserve Officer Training Corps program but was turned down because she was a woman. According to Olga Custodio, when the recruiter asked her to list three jobs she wanted, she responded “A pilot, a pilot or a pilot.”

Hila Levy: US Air Force Captain: Born 1986, raised in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Levy earned Bachelor of Science degree in 2008 in biology with 3 foreign language, minors: Arabic, French and Spanish. She is an intelligence officer in the United States Air Force; first Puerto Rican to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.

Colonel Maritza Sáenz Ryan (U.S. Army):  Head of the Department of Law  at the United States Military Academy; born in 1960.  She also has the distinction of being the most senior-ranking Judge Advocate. She graduated from West Point in 1982 as the first Latin West Point graduate. and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Field Artillery.

Colonel Maria Zumwalt: Originally from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, joined the University of Puerto Rico ROTC program to earn some money for college. After participating in military training, Zumwalt grew to appreciate and take advantage of the opportunities offered.

Colonel Marta Carcana: Born in 1958, Bayamon, Puerto Rico. On September 4, 2015, she was confirmed as the first Puerto Rican woman to lead the Puerto Rican National Guard and be promoted to Major General.

Zoppi (Irene Miller Rodriguez): On 2018, she became the first Puerto Rican woman with rank of United States Army, Brigadier General. She was born and raised in Canovanas, Puerto Rico. Deployed to Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia as a Military Intelligence Officer.

Hilda I. Ortiz Clayton Spec: Born on May 21, 1991 in Augusta, Georgia; an Army combat photographer was killed in 2013. She captured the explosion that killed her and four Afghan soldiers.

SPC Lizbeth Robles: Born 1973 in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. She was the first female soldier to die in the War on Terrorism. She was serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom when she killed on March 1, 2005.

 Captain Haydee Javier Kimmich (U.S. Navy): In 1998 she was the highest-ranking Latin female in the Navy and Woman of the Year in Puerto Rico. Captain Haydee Javier-Kimmich was also Chief of Orthopedics at Bethesda Naval Hospital. She is originally from Puerto Rico.