Browse Items (13 total)

The idea for the Military Intelligence Service Language School (MISLS) was formed prior to the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The strained relations between Japan and the United States deemed a need for an intelligence unit with knowledge…

2LT Estella Blas Aguon became the first woman from the Guam National Guard to complete the Ranger Training Assessment Course at Fort Benning, GA.

Anmol Narang, a child of Sikh immigrants from India, became the first observant Sikh to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point in June 2020. Sikh religious beliefs prohibit shearing hair, so while Sikhs had graduated from West…

JoAnne S. Bass became the first person of Asian American descent to hold the senior enlisted position as the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the U.S. Air Force.

The daughter of a Navy steward, Dr. Connie Mariano, born in the Philippines, joined the U.S. Navy Medical Corps in 1978 and graduated from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in 1981. In June 1992, Dr. Mariano became the first…

Hazel Ying Lee, born in Portland, Oregon, earned her pilot’s license at the age of 19. She went to China in 1933 to become a pilot for the Chinese Air Force but was rejected because of her sex. Returning to the United States, Lee later joined the…

Julianne Sohn, the daughter of Korean immigrants, was supposed to go to law school. She instead joined the U.S. Marine Corps after a conversation with a Marine Corps officer candidate and because of her desire to help others. Her…

Ladda “Tammy” Duckworth, an Iraq War veteran, Purple Heart recipient and now United States Senator is an inspiration to many.  Formerly the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Duckworth served 23 years in the U.S. Army…

Lt.j.g. Jeanette Gracie Shin signs her oath of office at the Pentagon on July 22, 2004. She is the DoD’s first Buddhist chaplain.

Pratima Dharm, the first Hindu chaplain in the U.S. Army, grew up surrounded by spirituality of all kinds in India. She moved to the United States in 2001 for school. Dharm wanted to become a chaplain which required attending seminary, but Hindu…